landscape ideas around coop

[CarrieAnnChicks]

Hello there!

My father is almost finished helping me with the "real" coop and run. We live in a suburban neighborhood of long island...

I am looking for landscape suggestions, inspirational pictures, etc...

I am not sure what to place around the perimeter of the run to camouflage it into our small backyard while also creating a tranquil space in which to sit near the girls.

I will post a picture of the coop and run later today (i am just staining the run so we can later wrap it in hardware cloth), its not 100% complete, but will give you an idea of the space I am talking about.

Thanks in advance - I cant wait to see all the beautiful coop landscapes that are out there

CA

 

[swimmom]

Here's a long, but helpful list of plants that are toxic to chickens so you know at least what to avoid.

http://www.poultryhelp.com/toxicplants.html

Mine eat everything in sight so I have a lot of bare earth. I planted herbs in containers which I could move around the coop, or out of chicken reach to give plants time to recover. I'll probably put pansies in the containers for fall.

It would be helpful to know if you have sun or shade around the coop.

 

[SunnyDawn]

Quote:
Very helpful link. Thanks

I noticed that two of the plants that my chickens won't touch, that are in the area I let them free range in, are on the list. Honeysuckle and Sage (salvia). They also leave my african daisies alone as well as my lavender. They've gobbled up pretty much everything else that they can reach, my roses are naked on the bottom 2/3 (I'm happy to see that nothing they like to eat is on this list). I'm going to plant virginia creeper in hanging baskets by their coop for next spring. They love the leaves and they will enjoy eating the leaves as soon as they grow down far enough for them to reach.

 

[elmo]

A lot depends on your climate zone, your soil, etc.. If you're going to let your flock free range, you'll want to avoid plants with known toxicity. You'll also want to protect small, tender plants from being grazed to the ground by your flock, too.

My chickens appreciate cover whenever they're out in the yard. I planted some running bamboo years ago and it's run wild (but in a good way). Where ever it comes up in the spring that I don't like, I simply cut the culm off at ground level; that takes care of that for a whole year. My flock loves to scratch and peck around in the bamboo jungle that has sprung up in my yard. Kind of makes me imagine their ancestry as jungle fowl.

 

[dirtybug]

Look into dual purpose plants, that will provide the tranquil privacy your looking for and something extra like a treat for you or the hens.
I'm planning to use blueberry, raspberry, blackberry and maybe a few other bushes. Just be sure to protect them till they're mature.

 

[CarrieAnnChicks]

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

I am going to put sunflowers around mine. Big and small for shade and greenery. I won't care if the chomp on them and we will have the flower heads in the fall and winter.

 

[lilchick]

Evergreen shrubs and trees look great all year long. My chickens will just crawl up under them for shade but they can't hurt them...
I have lilac, river birch trees an they look nice but in winter the only green is the shrubs and spruce trees!
I also have honeysuckle vines that grow up fences and hang over for shade.. The chickens will leap up into air and pluck all the leaves off but that vine will just keep on growing!

 

[mgard99]

I"m not sure what zone you are in, but you might consider some ornamental grasses. They would not be invasive like bamboo and would stand up to the abuse by the chickens. Any of the miscanthus grasses would be great choices. The pennisetums are also nice but make sure they are hardy to your zone. I also dressed up my coop with a window box that I plant in the summer. Have Fun!!