Tip Chooks scratching the mulch away from under garden trees

ClissAT

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I don't mind the chooks scratching around under my fruit trees & in the garden because my soil is so poor, their attentions are actually helpful.

However, it does wear a bit thin having to go out with the rake & put all the mulch back around tree when they continue to scratch it away after they have done their job & the tree needs to be left alone to grow.

So I watched them & noted they always face the tree trunk therefore scratching the mulch away from the tree.

This is what I came up with. It works 90%. The first time they went to this orange tree they formed a ramp with the extra biscuits of mulch & were able to scratch a lot right out over the top of the boards.

I solved that problem by removing the extra lucerne biscuits. Now they face the boards to scratch so the mulch stays inside the boards.

This fence is about 35cm high & the pegs are hammered into the ground about 15cm. An interesting discovery when driving the pegs was that I now have soft soil to that depth. I should have made the pegs longer to get them into the hard gravel below.

I cut the old weather boards to length. I set the pegs out all squared up on the bench & laid the boards over the pegs then screwed them together. Each side is separate. Here also is a slightly smaller one around the coffee tree too. I will have to do more trees once I find more old weather boards.

Chooks scratching the mulch away from under garden trees Chooks scratching the mulch away from under garden trees Chooks scratching the mulch away from under garden trees

Now I can also make compost right at the base of the tree so no more shovelling & barrowing compost, mulch, etc.

Once I have created soil to half the depth of the boards, I can simply add a new board to the top of the existing ones with more pegs attached & driven into the ground. I think the chooks will still jump up that high (about 50cm) if the hunting is good!

I mowed yesterday & enjoyed the ease of mowing along the straight boards.
 
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That's a good fix to hens raking out the mulch from around fruit trees.

I have to confess this is the main reason why I banned my hens from our orchard area - they just drove me crazy ripping away all the mulch I had placed around our fruit trees.

Hmmm, yes, I like the concept! Square is also a clever move because even though I have a zero turn mower it's still a pain to cut a good circle around the fruit trees.
 
The main reason I chose square was because I was told the steering mechanism on my johndeere mower would break quicker the more tight bends I make it go around. So I have set upon a project of removing as many tight bends as possible from the whole of the mown area of my property.
Anyway when having to mow a circle around so many trees, I inevitably ended up with a myriad of triangular bits to back & fill over after the bulk of the mowing was done. I hate that! :D
 
I like the boards around the fruit trees great idea. Great you solved the chicken and mulch issue too :)
 
Great to see you're thinking like a chook. :-) I placed large reo wire around a section I couldn't board, they couldn't scratch as it wasn't as fulfilling for them. They had plenty of other areas to scratch. I've moved from there and the tenant who lives there has a dog who ripped all the bromeliads I planted. Oh well, it's to be expected from a HUGE dog.
 
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