Plants for Shade

[LikeTurkeys]

@Aunt Angus, jade plants are the best. If you look it up, all you see are the little kinds you find in the store, but they grow very quickly (up to 4-5 feet, but not much higher than that). The chickens love them. They're also very low maintenance since they're a succulent plant and are easily propagated.

You can see them flowering in the background of this photo:

The chickens rest under them all the time, especially in hot weather. What's also great is that they don't seem to be inclined to eating the plants, which is good since otherwise, I don't think I would have any green left on my property.

Give them a try! A cutting is all you need to make another one if you decide you like them.

 

[Aunt Angus]

@Aunt Angus, jade plants are the best. If you look it up, all you see are the little kinds you find in the store, but they grow very quickly (up to 4-5 feet, but not much higher than that). The chickens love them. They're also very low maintenance since they're a succulent plant and are easily propagated.

You can see them flowering in the background of this photo:
View attachment 2762789
The chickens rest under them all the time, especially in hot weather. What's also great is that they don't seem to be inclined to eating the plants, which is good since otherwise, I don't think I would have any green left on my property.

Give them a try! A cutting is all you need to make another one if you decide you like them.

Consider it DONE. I love jade. I'm doing a face palm because WHY didn't I think of jade???

Thanks for the reminder if what a great, easy to grow plant that is.


I'm excited to get started!

 

[NorthwoodsChick]

I thought about butterfly bush, but the ones I have now are about 8 ft tall and need constant cutting back.

Check with your State/local dept of natural resources or agricultural resource about planting butterfly bush. It is very invasive, spreads vigorously by seeding along wind current and can harm susceptible ecosystems. It is considered invasive here in the midwest. Looks like you are in CA where it is also invasive (west coast). In fact, it has been banned in Oregon.
Have you considered miniature pear or apple? Pear offers good foliage for shade.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Check with your State/local dept of natural resources or agricultural resource about planting butterfly bush. It is very invasive, spreads vigorously by seeding along wind current and can harm susceptible ecosystems. It is considered invasive here in the midwest. Looks like you are in CA where it is also invasive (west coast). In fact, it has been banned in Oregon.
Have you considered miniature pear or apple? Pear offers good foliage for shade.

Good call about butterfly bush. There're actually several butterfly bushes here on the property that were here long before we moved in. I'm not surprised it's considered invasive, but it's too tall for my purposes anyway. Wish someone would have been around to tell Burbank about all these dang blackberries!

I'd love fruit trees, but I think even miniatures will be too tall for my needs, unfortunately.

 

[Quatie]

Another could be pomegranates trees. They grow relatively slow and I have seen them kept as hedges.

If you have the time, any of the fruit trees can be kept small. A nursery in our area promotes orchards where no ladders are required. You have to trim them more. It takes all the conventional knowledge about fruit trees and chucks it out the window. Their fruit trees look more like shrubs, but they keep them that way. Here is a photo of their orchard. All those little shrubs are fruit trees and they keep them that small.

We have thought about doing it to have more varieties in a smaller area. They dont produce as much fruit, but I waste tons of fruit on trees because there is too much and I can't find enough people to give the fruit to. It is different way to look at fruit trees.

Also, how has the smoke been where you are?

 

[NorthwoodsChick]

Good call about butterfly bush. There're actually several butterfly bushes here on the property that were here long before we moved in. I'm not surprised it's considered invasive, but it's too tall for my purposes anyway. Wish someone would have been around to tell Burbank about all these dang blackberries!

I'd love fruit trees, but I think even miniatures will be too tall for my needs, unfortunately.

Lol, I would love blackberries. My property was logged 10 yrs ago and now covered in second growth aspen and sooo many wild raspberry bushes. I love it, mind you, but variety would be nice.

 

[Liz Birdlover]

I like the ideas of planting shrubs for shade. I had already bought a Pet Gazebo & loved the portability as well as being able to see my sweeties while perched inside. They've lasted 6 yrs, however the tops have needed replacing, so that is an issue. I am thinking of planting leafy vines to climb & create a top as a test on one, see how it goes. My chickens do love their Gazebos, they dust bathe towards the back & I positioned the perch towards the front to keep poo out of the dust bath part. If I hadn't already purchased the Gazebos (they're painted metal) I would've built a structure like a mini horse run-in, a sort of Pavillion with treated lumber.

 

[Perris]

@Aunt Angus my flock's favorite - and they have a lot of choice - is the Parrotia Persica, aka Persian ironwood. It grows lots of horizontal branches which make perfect roosts for every size of bird somewhere or other; it is small for a tree, growing out rather than up; it offers fabulous cover from terrestrial and aerial predators; and it has spectacular autumn colour for we humans. It is not fussy about growing conditions either. Guide here https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/12341/i-Parrotia-persica-i/Details
PS and it's low maintenance, largely pest and disease free

 

[Phaedra Geiermann]

Blueberry grows great here in the woods. There are some plants that grow well here that shouldn't in 9a. Strawberries, for example. They grow like weeds in our lawn - haha!

My flock are foragers, primarily. They aren't free range because they are fenced in, but their primary diet is whatever they find. They get pellets, fermented feed, and calcium, too. They start out eating that in the mornings and go back to the feeders right before turning in, but so far, the added things they find in the yard hasn't caused issues. I figure this is how they'd eat if living wild. I think it's a pretty good life.

totally agree, strawberries, puuhhh, really like weeds, same as the wild strawberries, there are everywhere as birds also love them.

 

[Boise-girls]

I like the ideas of planting shrubs for shade. I had already bought a Pet Gazebo & loved the portability as well as being able to see my sweeties while perched inside. They've lasted 6 yrs, however the tops have needed replacing, so that is an issue. I am thinking of planting leafy vines to climb & create a top as a test on one, see how it goes. My chickens do love their Gazebos, they dust bathe towards the back & I positioned the perch towards the front to keep poo out of the dust bath part. If I hadn't already purchased the Gazebos (they're painted metal) I would've built a structure like a mini horse run-in, a sort of Pavillion with treated lumber.

Oh, my! Now I want a bunch of pet gazebos!