Monday, March 27, 2017

Designing a Landscape with Chickens in Mind

Clients are always giving me interesting projects.  Last year was a backyard upgrade for a couple whose small dogs nibbled everything and so all plants had to be double checked on two lists of plants dangerous to dogs.  And the landscape still turned out fantastic!
This year I get to do a mid-town landscape upgrade for a couple who want chickens.  There is a separate area fenced off from the main yard for the chicken coop and chicken run area and I intend to make this area just as lovely as the rest of the yard.
In my research I came across this great website, Nifty Homestead, they have a great list of plants healthy for chickens in addition to a list of plants that are dangerous to chickens.  Some of the healthy plants listed are:

Comfrey
Fennel
Thyme
Sunflowers
Amaranth
Most fruit trees
Raspberries

Some of the dangerous plants are:

Daffodil
Daphne
Hydrangea
Rhododendron

Another good site is Backyard Chickens.

Photo from Family Food Garden