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lissapell

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We decided to go ahead with a hutch system to hang cages from instead of pasturing them. i am kinda afraid of parasites that might be lurking in the yard. Hubs is building it to face the house and then closing it all off with lattice for privacy. He is adding a "lean to" style roof and putting a mister on it. It is going next to the house to keep better control over the neighborhood kids messing with our rabbits. To further help with privacy I am going to put garden beds around the hutch. I am trying to decide what to plant. I was thinking of adding noodle beans to the lattice but they attract aphids really bad, so I am unsure if I want them next to the rabbits. I have blueberry bushes 3-5 ft tall that need to be planted. I have verigated ornamental ginger, a variety of flowers, bright lights swiss chard, and numerous herbs (borage, comfrey, parsley(LOTS), cilantro, yarrow, worm wood, camomille, echinacia,etc...)
Do you think they would look ok mixed up?
 
I think the herbs will look really nice in a mixed bed. The parsley and borage are great for nursing does, but I believe yarrow is to be avoided for nursing/pregnant rabbits.

We are planning an eventual expansion which will be in a non-shaded area, and my plan is to grow blackberry and raspberry bushes on the west side. They are bunny safe plants, so if the grow into the cages (where the buns will prune them immediately) it wont be an issue.
 
The hutch idea sounds great. I think the plants will look fine together. None of them are really tall plants to climb the lattice, though.

Maybe for one side some clematis or honeysuckle or a climbing rose? You have so many options there where you live (lived there before we moved to Virginia).
 
Lissaspell- there are TONS of places with climbing roses- most of the big box home improvement stores, Wally World, Tractor Supply, to name a few. Just check the rose really well- the label should say climbing, and you want to start it with a plant that's compact, with a deep colored healthy main stem. Don't get the biggest one- they have a hard time with transplantation usually.

Amend your (likely clay in South Mississippi) soil. That was the biggest job we had when we lived there. And the main reason we went to raised gardens. The soil was awful.
 
The climbing rose is a good idea, but understand that roses don't "climb" they just have VERY long canes and you have to tie them to a support, and prune each year....Roses grow on new growth....But well worth the effort...My rabbits love Rose fodder, but they also love my wild grapes....and grapes are way Easier!!!! and will vine through and climb on there own! Good luck!
 
Last year we grew Luffa sponge on a trellis to provide shade to the south side of our house. The experiment went well. The plants are fast growing once they get started and formed good shade for the house. I haven't been able to find out if this is safe to use around rabbits or goats. The pods are edible when young. Its very fast growing so I'm hesitant to use it to add shade to the rabbts or goats. Anybody else grown it before?
 
The blueberries are an acid loving plant (much like azaleas) so be sure that you combine plants with them that also like acidic soils. (Azaleas are not edible for rabbits, BTW.)

Luffa is in the squash family so the fruit, vines, and leaves should all be edible by rabbits.
 
Vetch is a great feed and grows very quickly. You just can't get rid of it once you plant it. It is viney and might climb, but one thing is for sure, the rabbits will love it :)
 
Marinea":w5vpneqt said:
Lissaspell- there are TONS of places with climbing roses- most of the big box home improvement stores, Wally World, Tractor Supply, to name a few. Just check the rose really well- the label should say climbing, and you want to start it with a plant that's compact, with a deep colored healthy main stem. Don't get the biggest one- they have a hard time with transplantation usually.

Amend your (likely clay in South Mississippi) soil. That was the biggest job we had when we lived there. And the main reason we went to raised gardens. The soil was awful.
Click to expand...

Our soil doesn't turn into clay until about 3 ft down. Our place was a pasture for cows and grew hay for about 30 yrs before we moved in. Thanks for the tip on the roses!

__________ Sun Mar 31, 2013 5:01 pm __________

Mickey328":w5vpneqt said:
Or a grape vine...it'll climb right up there, provide some nice dappled shade and fruit and the bunnies love grape leaves :)
Click to expand...
I think the grape vine might be to heavy. When our other vines are in fruit they way a lot.<br /><br />__________ Sun Mar 31, 2013 5:02 pm __________<br /><br />
GypsyTinker":w5vpneqt said:
Vetch is a great feed and grows very quickly. You just can't get rid of it once you plant it. It is viney and might climb, but one thing is for sure, the rabbits will love it :)
Click to expand...
vetch grows crazy wild through our field. The bunnies love it.
 

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