Plants in Peril

We have 6 chickens, and sometimes it seems like a heck of a lot more! The damage they have done in my gardens is not nice...when you consider the time & money spent on them. Love the fresh eggs, but...

Starting to dig & scratch for bugs

My poor Frosted Jade hosta and butterfly bush!

One of the holes dug in a new area of the garden, so much for my glads & lilies :(

And they are having a field day in the woodland garden! Most of the plants have been there for years, but newer ones are in danger from those claws. Not sure what we're going to do about this area...already lost a few. But I'm trying to save my hostas...I collect and love my hostas!

See all those rocks? They uses to be around the cedar tree...that's how strong their claws are! This is a tiny section of that garden...and all the bare spots...used to be filled with plants. :(

Larry suggested putting landscape fabric up as a fence to stop them from coming up to the courtyard area. Yuck! How ugly! I asked how much chicken wire he has left over. Not enough, but it's cheap enough to purchase more. As we discussed this, sitting sipping a cocktail, I noticed an old deck railing I had leaning against the tree. Remembered there were more out back.  A friend had torn down his old deck and brought them over (we get everyone's garbage)...he was going to burn them when I told him no way, they'll be useful one day!

Leaning, waiting for me to decide what to do with it

"Hey Honey, how about that old deck railing? Wouldn't that work, and look a hundred times better?" He jumped up, grabbed the measuring tape and we measured, and measured twice. We had the perfect amount to build a fence across behind the tree!! "Wow," he said, "you are a genius, great idea!" My 'feathers' puffed out in pride. :)

We brought them all forward and the next day he built the fence! I was soooo pleased, he did an awesome job and it looks wonderful! He even built a gate!

Pickle wondering why all the rails are up here.

My wonderful husband started the fence! Look at all the dead grass and poor shrubs...drought and high heat did a number on everyone this summer.

Hard at work. And Pickle bathing...

With the large maple tree, there are large roots. He broke an axe chopping those roots to put the fence poles in. oops

Starting the gate...as you can see, he didn't measure twice to dig the hole. lol

Done!!! 

Brownie & Pandora are confused as to why they can't get to the side garden! lol

With the chickens not being able to venture to where the bird feeders are and scratch around for fallen seed, I decided to move the bird station. And decided the fence would be a perfect place to put my collection of bird houses! The other side of the fence is now my 'bird garden'. :)

See the old bird's nest? I know it won't last long, but it's fun for now! Going to put solar lights on top of the gate posts. (ignore his collection of garbage out back...he keeps promising me it's going...)

 Put the feeding station in the area an old honeysuckle had been, so the ground is perfect for scratching chickens. :)

 You can see some of the birdhouses on the fence

 My nephew gave me this bird house and I love it!

And the old/new bird cage that so far only the chipmunks seem to use.

But we are far from done. Now comes the task of cleaning up & repairing the damage the chickens did. We are getting a load of soil to level out the ground/holes, and then a load of mulch to put in the new gardens I'm adding. And I'm in the process of making stepping stones for the pathway...but that is another post.

I've also made a bird bath out of concrete to add to this bird garden and you can see it in my Home Made Bird Bath post. I love it and so do the birds!


My entry into Terrific Tuesdays @ Adventures of a DIY Mom sponsored by Appliances Online and their best Range Cookers.

I'm linking to:

Carter's Cottage My Monday Muse