Plants for duck pen

[ElleMc]

Hey, all. I have a raised pen. It's a deck about a foot above the ground. It gets hosed down every day so the area underneath stays wet and swampy. I'm trying to find a plant to put there - either bushes or a ground cover - that my ducks won't eat and will keep that area looking a bit nicer.

Any recommendations?

Thanks in advance!

 

[CayugaJana]

Following!

 

[chickens really]

Native shrubs.....Ducks are noodlers so something a bit tougher....

 

[cheezenkwackers]

My ducks leave all the herbs alone (basil, oregano, mint, sage, lavender, cilantro). Mint is perennial and should like your wet spot -but it might like it too much! Bee balm is a native relative to mint, so it might work.
I planted a dwarf Mulberry bush (also native to our area) I found on clearance at Lowes in the corner of my garden-duck pen a few months ago. It is thriving (4-5 ft tall) and the ducks ignore it except to sleep under it. If it gives me berries I am sure they will appreciate the ones that drop. It likes water and is near one of the duck pools, but I don't know if it can take swampy conditions.

 

[ElleMc]

I love mulberries! We had a bush by our house growing up. I'll have to see if it's native to my new area. Thanks for the idea!

 

[ElleMc]

Thanks for the idea on the shrubs. The digging is a lot of the reason it's all swamp - we had grass, now not so much. Shrubs may do the trick.

 

[Miss Lydia]

What about blueberry bushes. I find bushes are best since they can't be trampled.
My ducks and chickens love to nibble on leaves my Hydrangea had to be fenced. Sweet shrub does well here too. It's native to our area.

 

[Cklass90]

Is there anything I can plant that they will eat but not destroy? Or a way to do it like a grazing frame isea. i have a pond in the middle so a pond plant would be good. Something that could grow up and provide food but not have to keep being replanted?