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Cottage Gardens

horse fence vine/shrub

17 years ago

I'm doing a cottage/pottage garden in a side yard next to a horse field.

I need some fast growing vines or shrubs that horses/goats will not eat and that are not poisonous to them.

I'm thinking of climbing roses, but any other ideas are appreciated. TIA Nancy

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Comments (3)

memo3
17 years ago
Nope...not roses. My goats love 'em. Honestly the only things they do not eat around here are wild perennial sunflowers, wild verbena, sage although they will eat the tumbleweeds it produces, wild marijuana, velvet leaf & cactus (they never eat the things you'd like them to). Everything else is fair game to them. They don't much care for boxwood but will eat it if there is nothing else exposed, due to snow cover, for them to chew on in the winter. I do know that privets are poisonous to goats.

I'd suggest that you come in about three feet from the fence and place a dummy fence out of welded wire and T-posts. That way you can grow whatever vine or climbing vegie you want and they couldn't reach it...unless the goats are jumpers and come over the fence...in which case I'd suggest an electric fence between the two. They won't cross an electric fence. My whole garden and yard are surrounded with E. fencing to keep the goats out. Yes, it's terribly attractive lol but at least my plants aren't chewed down to nubs. If you don't need the electric fence you could use the space between the two fences for your compost piles. They'd be out of site but handy to the rest of the garden maybe?

I can't really help you with what horses eat. Mine are right on the east side of my yard but not close enough for me to notice what they eat/don't eat. They never get near to the garden at my place.

MeMo
ninjabut
Original Author
17 years ago
Thanks, MEMO. The neighbor finally built a fence that the horses can't bend down. I told them the last 2 times they had to replace the fence that they were doing it wrong, but would they listen? NOOOOOOOOO.
The goats are not usually in the close field, just the horses.
What do you (and others) think of clumping bamboo?
I really need a horse dust fence, but don't have the 3' you suggest in this yard.
Happy gardening! Nancy
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How wide and deep can it be? If you can sacrifice ten feet, you have lots of great choices of reasonably priced, maintenance-free drought tolerant and flowering shrubs. The farther into your yard the plant can jut the fewer plants you will need to buy. If you want something that grows no more than three feet into your yard you will have to spend a lot of money and your choices will be quite limited, and the maintenance may be high. The only evergreen vine I would recommend is trachelospermum jasminoides (sp?) or star jasmine, but it can get burned in full sun and it can freeze. I have Algerian ivy, and I do not recommend it to anyone who wants a life beyond trimming ivy. My dad is currently planting Iceberg roses against his five foot tall chain link fence, and he will plant nandinas on the other side. Expensive, but low-maintenance and pretty. He only has 60 feet to cover. Renee
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Many thanks to all of you who very kindly sent me advice. Tiffy, - yes, I checked at various times of the day, and there is a little dappled sunlight and later in the day a little direct sun. Bev - your suggestions were interesting - I do like firethorn - I have three at the other end of the garden against a fence and I had just one at our last house. I love kerria, especially the single flowering one. I looked up Itea virginica, and it would be an ideal choice, but the problem is the narrowness of the border, also pieris, which is so pretty. MG - Your suggestions are lovely, but I don't think they would survive very well in this location. Lots of snow taking a long time to melt in the spring, along with the shade. Orchidguy4ever - That is quite a list, and thank-you! I will have to google to find their familiar names, I'm embarrassed to say!! Which ones are vines or smallish shrubs? Thanks again, everyone! What a great forum this is!
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Hi Nancy! I love my plants AND my horses, so I can see both sides of this issue. :-) I just wanted to say that although the previous poster is MOSTLY correct, some horses will eat a poisonous plant, especially if they don't have anything else to munch on all day. As grazing animals, horses are designed to nibble nearly all day. If this need isn't met with a constant supply of grass or hay, many of them will chew on whatever is handy -- poisonous or not. Incidentally, this may include "pricklies" like roses. I'd never try to grow anything on my horse fences because even if they don't actually eat the plant, they'll play with it until it dies. Blocking dust with some nice, thick foliage planted a few feet on your side of the fence is a good idea, though. You can always call your local equine vet to ask whether a paticular plant will hurt the animals should they reach across and steal a leaf. Good luck -- that's frustrating! (I know. My neighbor's horses got loose into my garden several times last year. Grrr.)
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Re the star jasmine: too much sun maybe? I'm in the Pac NW but summers, even here, with relentless sun, are not kind to star jasmines. There is a lot more humidity on the east coast in the south, and things do well there because they generally have plenty of rain and humidity in summer. Jasmines also like shelter. Windy situations are not the happiest for them. You did well to mulch them. After this growing season they should be well established. One thing about the brown leaves: sometimes leaves do this on evergreen things just as the plant is making a branch there. Look for signs of new branches and more leaves - that is a natural occurance then, and nothing to worry about. how wide is your bed by your fence? you mentioned planting catmint (Nepeta). That plant sprawls when in bloom, and can get very wide - so be sure you don't buy the giant nepeta, which sprawls 4-5 feet. You do have to cut back nepeta when it's done flowering each time. What other flowers are you considering and what is your color range that you like? i think you mentioned white, blue, and purple. What other flowering perennials have you considered? you said you wanted low maintenance so ideally, that would be something you don't have to deadhead constantly. . There are some amazing salvias that would do well in your climate. Salvia patens has pure royal blue flowers; ' cambridge blue' is sky blue, rare colors in flowers - not sure what zones they need but worth checking out. Hummingbirds love salvias. Salvia guaranitica "black and blue" is stunning! Or you could plant asclepias and attract butterflies. i adore lantana, which here is an annual but in the Caribbean grew as a woody shrub and bloomed constantly - i guess they are considered invasive down south so it may not be the best choice for your area. Here's a nice article about salvias: https://gardenerspath.com/plants/flowers/how-grow-salvia/ As other have said, until things are established you will need to keep them watered. i used to live in the carribean - no water there - we used our dish water and bath water, bailing out the bathtub, to water our plants! nothing was wasted.
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broodyjen
17 years ago
I don't know about vines, but horses will eat roses--they ate my boss's rosebushes through the fence and his wife was pretty mad! In general, horses won't eat poisonous plants--they usually "know better," however, horses can't vomit, so if they do eat something poisonous, it can easily kill them.

Whatever you decide to plant, please research it first to be sure it's not poisonous.

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