Looking for Pics/Ideas Integrating Run/Hutches into Landscaping/Garden

[elmo]

Quote:
So much depends on your individual situation. You can build a coop and run in any style you like, then plant vines or fruit trees outside the perimeter of the run. This would have the advantage of shading your run as well as hiding it somewhat. Just be sure that whatever you plant isn't within "beak range" of your wire.

One thing I did this year is attach windowboxes with herbs on the side of my coop. One of our hens likes to fly up there and think about laying an egg among the herbs, but so far she has always decided "naw, not the right place."

 

[6chickens in St. Charles]

Here's photos I took today (rainy here, how about there by you?) of my "cottage-y" home. Maybe could we keep in touch? Are you working on something similar? I think I have pretty good "bones" in my landscape, its funny how cleaning up for chickens bought this place a picket fence, porch swing, shed and garden. The house always needed these, but never got them til the chickens moved in...........

I'm always planning on the future of this place, more shrubbery, more square foot gardens, ROSES too. It's only time and money, right! I'm only 45, not dead yet, but its a loong way to go...

Here's my suburban 1890's house from the street view, the shed/coop is back and to the right of the cars-

Here's from inside my front yard looking back to the garden/shed/coop

Here's my waaaay tooo biiig driveway from the 70's plopped smack in the middle of the 2 lots, imagine fruit trees along this line, total property is 100ftX100ft:

Here's the shed/coop wanna-be, still unfinished, with my newly hatched compost heap in front of an ancient wall bearing ancient grapevines:

Here's the shed's south side. These square foot gardens will be moved to the north side of the shed next spring, because the trees have matured and made shade here, which will make for a perfect chicken run beside a nice little lawn, with a picnic table by the wall of grapevines (ooh I can just imagine this place in a few years!):

But where are my chickens? I'm a bad momma. I let them wander wherever they want. Here they're picking around the backyard firepit for last nite's weenie roast leftovers. The backyard has a maple tree and a TRULY ANCIENT OAK which won't let anything grow under them, so I had a few loads of chipped trees dumped here. After we got chickens, we no longer had problems with flies, mosquitoes or shrews back here. With lots more money and time, we hope for pavement and stonework deck and landscaping in this part of the back yard.

Lastly, here's our recently re'homed babyroo "Meatyboy Fancypants" on the front porch. You can see he thinks he owns this home. I miss him dearly but he had to go. In a way, I think this house and yard really want chickens. Its like they belong together.

 

[TOL Chick]

6chickens in St. Charles :

Here's photos I took today (rainy here, how about there by you?) of my "cottage-y" home. Maybe could we keep in touch? Are you working on something similar? I think I have pretty good "bones" in my landscape, its funny how cleaning up for chickens bought this place a picket fence, porch swing, shed and garden. The house always needed these, but never got them til the chickens moved in...........

I'm always planning on the future of this place, more shrubbery, more square foot gardens, ROSES too. It's only time and money, right! I'm only 45, not dead yet, but its a loong way to go...

Here's my suburban 1890's house from the street view, the shed/coop is back and to the right of the cars-
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/25976_06232010759.jpg

Here's from inside my front yard looking back to the garden/shed/coop
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/25976_06232010764.jpg

Here's my waaaay tooo biiig driveway from the 70's plopped smack in the middle of the 2 lots, imagine fruit trees along this line, total property is 100ftX100ft:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/25976_06232010765.jpg

Here's the shed/coop wanna-be, still unfinished, with my newly hatched compost heap in front of an ancient wall bearing ancient grapevines:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/25976_06232010768.jpg

Here's the shed's south side. These square foot gardens will be moved to the north side of the shed next spring, because the trees have matured and made shade here, which will make for a perfect chicken run beside a nice little lawn, with a picnic table by the wall of grapevines (ooh I can just imagine this place in a few years!):
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/25976_06232010767.jpg

But where are my chickens? I'm a bad momma. I let them wander wherever they want. Here they're picking around the backyard firepit for last nite's weenie roast leftovers. The backyard has a maple tree and a TRULY ANCIENT OAK which won't let anything grow under them, so I had a few loads of chipped trees dumped here. After we got chickens, we no longer had problems with flies, mosquitoes or shrews back here. With lots more money and time, we hope for pavement and stonework deck and landscaping in this part of the back yard.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/25976_06232010769.jpg

Lastly, here's our recently re'homed babyroo "Meatyboy Fancypants" on the front porch. You can see he thinks he owns this home. I miss him dearly but he had to go. In a way, I think this house and yard really want chickens. Its like they belong together.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/25976_05132010568.jpg

LOVE Mr.Meatboy Fancypants - I laughed out loud when I saw the picture AND read his name!

Well Done!​

 

[6chickens in St. Charles]

Woops here's the chickens, in this light they can be more clearly seen:

Currently we have just 4 chickens. What kind will you have (in Ohio?)

And thanks TOL chick!

 

[nonseq]

You have a lovely home!

Our last house was turn of the 20th century and gorgeous. The one we are in now was built in the early 70s. A traditional two story that desperately needs a porch. But I have a cottage-y thing going on in the house and flower gardens. I have nearly a half-acre - BIG in the suburbs - and I am on a cul-de-sac with a wedge shaped lot. I want to make part of that wedge into my garden. I just picked up several books from the library on landscaping......I think the British ones will be useful.

I'll put up pics tomorrow.

Oh! and I already have chickens. Laying hens - Wyandotte, RIR, some type of hybrid and one Cochin. The coop needs work. I was thinking of using it to define the garden......I have some sketches I could scan.....

 

[6chickens in St. Charles]

Oooh that would be nice to see what you're planning. I got called in to work tomorrow, it will be something I can look forward to after a long shift. Sometimes it helps to have a little something to look forward to at the end of a day! So thanks!

Have you seen the avaiary of Bunny Williams in connecticut, with it's wedge shape around a central screened in gazebo? Funny thing, though, if I had something like that I'd still let the chickens roam wherever they want................

 

[nonseq]

Sorry to take so long to post these. I had out of town company until yesterday.

This is my front yard on the side of the house I want my garden:

This the backyard where I want the garden. I have a small garden to the left in that pic:

This is the shed. I want to start the garden at the right hand corner of the shed and run a fence from there to the corner of the house.

Where the current garden meets the shed:

Chicken house is to the left of the shed. I need to finish painting it and I need to wash all the muddy raccoon prints off of it:

Here's some of the chickens.

I was thinking of somehow integrated the coop and a rabbit hutch into the boundary of the garden.......I dunno.

I need to redo my sketches b/c the kids used them for "art."

I'll see what I can get done tomorrow night.

I looked for the Wiulliams aviary and didn't find it. I'll check again.

 

[6chickens in St. Charles]

http://thelaurelhedge.blogspot.com/2009/02/bunnys-revenge.html

Oh wow you have a great space to work with! All that full sun! Oooh I cant wait to see what it becomes. Wish I had more full sun. My gardens used to have it, now I've rehomed most of the full sun stuff, to people like you with sunny lots.

I used to garden right beside the fence like yours, but ran into problems with neighbors (renters change frequently) spraying the fences (my gardens too) with roundup and insecticides. So I'm focusing on more container gardening on the interior of our lot. Now, our gardening motto is, "So we don't have to mow there" and we're working on clear edges to the fences. AND my picket fence posts have nice flat tops, the old fashioned form of cup-holders, where you can set your cup of coffee and little dish of pie. The current neighbors are good folk.

Your chickens are beautiful! I think that nice coop and run make them look happy.

thanks for posting pics! Please keep me posted!

 

[nonseq]

I'm very fond of my chickens. Surprisingly so. I have 9. I asked if chickens were legal here two years ago. I was told yes. Then I received a code complaint about my rooster. I rehomed him and called the code enforcement officer. And he's never got back to me. That was a month ago, so I think I am being ignored unless I get another complaint. But I would like the coop to be lower profile and look like it belongs in the landscaping.

What I want to do is fence that part of my yard off and put in raised beds separated by lawnmower wide strips of lawn. I want to put the beds around a central circular herb garden. Where the garden is now - along the fence - has been a PITA, but that is where DH wanted it. Sometimes I need to let him run with his ideas so he can see how they play out. haha

My neighbor back there by the garden moved his fence onto the property line last summer after I had planted my garden. Four feet into my garden. He's a jackass. Although I play nice when I have to deal with him. He moved his fence which bunged up the drainage system back there which flooded my run when my other neighbor drained his pool last fall. We put in all new drainage pipe, gravel and catch basins. I like living here. It's a great town in which to raise kids, but sometimes I think we would have been better off buying that house on seven acres out in BFE.

That Bunny Williams aviary is similar to what I was thinking........TY!

 

[6chickens in St. Charles]

Did you see this Martha Stewart show? I just watched it this morning! That stage coop behind her is very pretty, I love the A frame look (but I couldn't really manage to bend over in there) and the coordinated paint job/cedar shake look.

http://www.marthastewart.com/show/the-martha-stewart-show/the-chicken-show