I had given up mulching the orchard as the chooks simply scratched and destroyed my good work every time. Also when I fertilised with blood and bone or dynamic lifter the chooks would eat it and scratch holes risking exposing the trees roots. Something I can't risk during summer. SOOOOOOOOO I needed to fence off the 3 rows of trees so I can mulch the trees to help reduce water usage during summer. Now instead of fencing off the whole orchard area i decided to fence off each row to contain the mulch and keep the chooks out once and for all. This means I can still walk up and down each row easily, fertilise, water, and mulch the trees easily with out the chooks undoing my good work.
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| The three rows now fenced off, mulched & fertilised. |
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| Look the orchard is growing, look at those nice green shoots. |
See the photo's it's pretty self explanatory. The chicken wire is 62cm high (this is keeping the chooks out well). Wooden posts hit into the ground support the wire, I used tie wire to fix the wire to the posts. Its a great result and has fixed all my chicken/orchard frustrations.
The reason for all this work is to ensure I get as much growth this growing season. Mulch, good fertiliser, and good irrigation will ensure the best growth possible. And this will mean I get fruit from the trees as soon as possible.
