Safe plants for my ducks?

[Littleducky]

I am almost finished with my enclosure for my new Wood ducks. I was wondering what would be some safe plants that I could place in there for decoration. ie. bamboo, pampass grass that kind of thing.

I am looking for things that can be decorative but also are safe in case they decide to have a snack.

If anyone has any ideas please let me know. : )

 

[dixygirl]

I am going to put the pampas grass outside the pen because it is so razor sharp. I want it to cut predators, not the duckies. The bamboo is a great idea for outside too unless you have a really tall roof. Bamboo plants start out a deceiving height and often grow to 20 feet or even 60 feet in no time, depending on the variety.

I just planted 6 varigated liriope around the kiddie pool

I am also thinking of planting some day lillies right outside the pen. I don't know if they are safe to put in there with them.

And I am going to get some sod. for a strip. Maybe miscanthus would be another good one as an accent plant inside the pen.

Japanese forest grass is another pretty one

Or one of the blue ornamentals like blue festuca or blue oat grass

Or a red one.

I am going to fill them with white river rocks and pea gravel eventually.

See this link for many ideas or ornamental grasses.
http://directgardening.com/prodnav.asp?cat_search=Grs&header=Ornamental~Grass

Try a hardy banana musa basjoo that will grow in cold climates

Or a hardy palm that will also grow in cold states. Trachycarpus fortunei (windmill palm)

In general these gardens are called nature scapes... See this one...wow!

 

[DrakeMaiden]

I have found that my ducks generally know if they shouldn't eat something. They may nibble on it at first, but they seem to get the idea pretty quickly what is safe to eat and what is not. I have never had a poisoning and I grow all kinds of plants, plenty of which are poisonous. However, that said, I could see how in an enclosure there's no telling what they might do.

One idea of a plant that is safe and that they will eat (if you don't mind that) is sedge. My ducks will nibble on an ornamental variety called 'Ice Dance,' which isn't a huge problem, because it has a tendency to spread.

What are you looking for? Shrubs? Flowering plants? Natural-looking marginal plants?

 

[Littleducky]

I am looking for things that will look very nice and are decorative. I have very nice gardens and want to have a place that is pretty and comfortable for the ducks.

I suppose that mainly some ornimental grasses and the rest will come with time.

Our pen is about 9ft tall so I don't have to worry about height.

 

[dixygirl]

Wow! you made your pens 9 feet tall! I would love to see that.
Seems duck habitats are marrying the garden with the pen. Instead of the pen being a boxy, sterile cage sitting off to the side, it is nice to try to blur the borders between garden and duck habitat.

It will be interesting to see how some pull it off and still keep predators at bay.