Although you might have a vision of what your garden should look like, the animals you keep don’t. They’re not interested in aesthetics at all, and often just want to munch through your flower beds and poo on all your hard work – literally.

But what if you want to have your cake and eat it? – that is, have a beautiful garden and keep animals at the same time. Is it even possible? Take a look at these ideas.

Put Down Sand In The Chicken/Duck/Goose Run

Chickens, ducks, and geese have sensitive feet. They also create a lot of mess, which is why many owners choose to keep them on hard ground, like concrete. But putting them on hard ground puts them at risk of developing debilitating conditions, like bumblefoot, which can make them lame. Obviously, that’s not something you want.

The alternative is allowing them to roam freely on the lawn. But over time, their droppings will turn your lawn into a mud pit, destroying the look of your garden.

So what can you do? One idea is to put a layer of fine sand in the run. Sand doesn’t damage bird’s feet and also helps to eliminate the buildup of droppings. You can wash away droppings on the sand with a hose, keeping your garden looking its best. And if you need specialist help, you can always turn to https://www.lawncare.net/service-areas/alabama/.

Upgrade Your Animal Shelters

Ugly stable blocks can ruin the look of a garden. But if you love horses, llamas or alpacas, what choice do you have?

Vale Stables says that there are plenty of options out there for people who want attractive outbuildings for their animals that do not ruin the look of their gardens. Buildings can be customized to particular styles, and come with helpful features that let you pack them up and move them somewhere else if you want to. Shelters are made from beautiful materials, helping to preserve the beauty of your property and grounds.

Rotate Animals

Leave any animals in a garden for long enough, and they’ll rip up the soil, eat all the leaves, and generally wreck the place. It’s a good idea, therefore, to come up with a plan in advance for rotating animals so that plant life has a chance to recover.

Small animals, like ducks and geese, usually need to be rotated once every couple of weeks to give time for the grass to recover. Larger animals, like goats, can lay waste to an area much more quickly, and so may need to be moved on once a week or more.

Horses and alpacas tend not to create too much destruction, although horses can inadvertently churn up fields in wet, winter weather, thanks to the sheer weight of their bodies pressing down into the ground.

Cordon Off Sections Of Your Garden

Finally, it’s worth investing in some fencing to make sure that animals stay out of particularly delicate areas of your garden, such as flower beds and vegetable patches. Find fencing that is suitable for the kinds of animals that you keep. The larger the animal, the more heavy-duty your fencing will need to be.

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