The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Community => Coffee Lounge => Topic started by: Tracy mayoh on July 22, 2017, 12:51:37 pm
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Hello
I am new to keeping pet sheep we want to plant some trees/ hedges of some sort to create natural shelters for the sheep
What sort of plants/trees are the best safest and most efficient
At the minute it's a big fenced in field with nothing but grass and there man made shelter
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Poplar or willow will grow by far the fastest and you can feed them to sheep when you are running etc.
Otherwise you can plant traditional hedging plants like Hawthorn
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Willow would be great, remember to fence it off though as the sheep will eat them!
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If possible I would put holly in as well, slower growing but brilliant winter shelter and also for birds nesting etc.
We also have birch, it was cut back when it reached about 8ft, ive realised recently it makes a nice windbreak.
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Our sheep break wind quite effectively without our assistance!
This is an interesting thread though, since we have the same dilemma. The windiest edge of our land has rhododendron bushes planted the other side of the fence to break the wind, which they do very effectively. However, I really want to get rid of them firstly because they are poisonous to sheep, and secondly because they are not native.
We did plant hawthorn along one section a few years ago, but it takes a long time to become hedge-like. In the meantime, can I suggest attaching a couple of thicknesses of scaffold mesh along the fenceline? It's pretty cheap, and we've found that it works surprisingly well as a wind break.
(https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/OEoAAOSw7s5Xh6MU/s-l500.jpg)
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Our sheep break wind quite effectively without our assistance!
:roflanim: