Safe balcony plant?

Hi all,

I was wondering if anyone might be able to help me with a little quandary.

The other day I decided to secure my balcony so I can let my two out on it.

As a consequence, I now have wire fencing around the parimeter, which I'd quite like to grow a climbing plant on.

I was thinking about Clematis, however typically this turns out to be toxic for buns, as does my second choice (Jasmine), so I was just wondering if anyone happens to know of a non toxic plant I could grow safely to cover the railings / fence?

Damien

Well I've been doing a bit more research and its looking like roses might be a good bet. I was trying to avoid them because of the thornes etc but I've come across a thornless one http://roses.toytrains1.com/zephirine_drouhin.htm which i might be able to put up with

Damien

Will the rabbits be able to get at the pot? The trouble is anything that tastes yummy will be reduced to roots in no time :?

Hi Tasmin,

The short answer is yes probably.

My balcony is long and narrow, at just under a meter wide and 8 meters in length, so I don't have many places to site pots witout them being an obstical, and can't have anything to wide without it being obstructive.

I could get a tallish pot to stop them getting at the plants base.

To be honest I'm not wild about roses, but they appear to be a safe option although I'm not sure I can't get one that will cover enough space.

Any ideas for something thats safe and doesn't taste good?

I can't think of anything safe and nasty tasting Nasturtiums should be safe and grow quick - you can reseed them as they are eaten.. you can eat them too.

I think peas (human style not sweet peas) are safe as you can eat the shoots from them - they have pretty flowers and again you can regrow.

I think grape vines are okay.. at least Scamp ate a whole one with no problems

You'd need a very tall pot to avoid them jumping in.

How about window boxes or half moon hanging baskets hung on the top edge of the railings with hanging plants trailing down? They'd probably trim the bottom edge but it should stop them totally decimating the plants

Is there a gape between the railings and the drop? You could put window boxes on the far side of the railings if so.. though it's a bit harder to do maintenance as you have to do it through the railing.

I wouldn't go for roses as buns can hop up into them & might climb the balcony....

go for low growing soft plants like nasturiums, pansey, violet, herbs & as tamsin said human peas will also climb but wouldn't give enough support for bunnies weight....they will all be demolished unfortunately but never mind

Hi guy's,

Thanks for the replies and suggestions.

In the end, and after hours of research on various plants, I've just decided to try a thornless rose variety.

I'm fairly sure that the buns won't be able to climb the one I've chosen, as it's a fairly lax variety, but I’ll definitely keep an eye on that!

Ultimately it's one of the few appealing plants that I can say is safe with certainty, so I figure it's worth a shot for the peace of mind.

As ever it's a compromise between what I want, and what suits them best.

They always win out in the end of course

Damien



Damien