Gardening with Free-Range Chickens For Dummies
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Most gardens contain a problem area or two. A slope is a problem area in a chicken garden because chickens love a slope and gravitate toward it, continually scratching and creating dirt baths in that area. A barren slope is open to soil erosion and loss of soil nutrients.

If you need a fix for a slope, consider these plants:

California wild lilac

California wild lilac

Ceanothus. Evergreen shrubs and groundcover. Zones 8–10. Easy care, drought tolerant. Beautiful spring-blooming flowers.

Honeysuckle

Honeysuckle

Lonicera japonica. Deciduous vines. Zones 4–11. Fragrant showy flowers. Especially good for ground cover erosion control. Honeysuckle can be valuable in a chicken garden, but it has known toxic qualities to chickens. Chickens generally avoid it in free-ranging situations. Never feed it directly to your chickens.

Ice plant

Ice plant

Malephora. Succulent perennials. Zones vary by species. Durable perennial for heat, winds, and fire. Drought tolerant. Low maintenance. Plants bloom over a long time.

Western sword fern

Western sword fern

Polystichum munitum. Zones 3–8. Most common fern of Western forests. Beautiful, long, lush, dark green fronds. Partial or full shade.

About This Article

This article is from the book:

About the book authors:

Bonnie Jo Manion has been featured in national garden magazines with her gardens, organic practices, chickens, and designs. Follow Bonnie at VintageGardenGal.com. Rob Ludlow is the owner of BackYardChickens.com, a top source on chicken raising, and the coauthor of Raising Chickens For Dummies.

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