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My Garden is a mess - help!

Minimallow

Wise Old Thumper
I let the buns out on the grass all year round and as a result the grass looks a right mess :shock: It gets quite marshy in the bad weather during winter which doesn't help, as well as me having to walk over it when it's in that state. Does anyone know how to give it a bit of TLC? Should i sprinkle some grass seed over it all or am I talking mince (rubbish) :?

You can see the sorry state of it here. I had to put boards down when it was really bad as it was so slippery. The bunnies don't mind how it looks of course but I'd like it to look a bit nicer than it does! (which isn't hard!)
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Im no gardener but have you thought about having a permanent path so when it's muddy you can avoid walking on it? maybe go over it with a garden fork to put little holes in it new grass would help tho. good luck
 
How about some stepping stones? You could buy 4 or 5, dig down a bit then put them down. As for grass- on my recent research ( my garden is same state), grass seed would be your best bet, but careful which u get- some have added fertiliser etc so wouldn't be suitable :)
 
I would use some temp fence on a section and re-seed. A bag of grass seed only costs like a £5 and that goes quite a long way! The most difficult part is keeping the birds off :lol: and yep, stepping stones! You can probably get some free ones off your Freecycle?
 
I agree buying just a few slabs would be a good idea - we got some for about £2 a slab for our garden and as well as making it look much better it was a lot safer than mud.

Personally I'd chuck some grass seed down and keep them off it for a few weeks, but you could do a section at a time which would also make it easier to cover to keep birds off. You could also buy one or two bits of turf just for the worst areas.
 
My lawn is looking sad too, I've bought some grass seed but have been instructed by my grandma not to sow it until I'm certain there won't be another frost :wave:
 
Thanks everyone! I think the stepping stones are a good idea :thumb: I'll try sowing some grass seed and if that doesn't work I'll try the lawn feed stuff :wave:
 
If you wanted to decorate the place you could always pot up some herbs or make a herb garden (depending on which herbs you want). Mint in particular is a piece of wee wee to grow but it will look nice and you can feed it to the buns too. Rosemary gets quite bushy so good for adding a little interest to a garden.
 
I did think of a herb garden or something as would like to do some bunny friendly plants etc and maybe some lavender but just wondered if there was any point as the buns are out there most of the day they would eat it all in one day before it had a chance to grow no doubt!
 
I did think of a herb garden or something as would like to do some bunny friendly plants etc and maybe some lavender but just wondered if there was any point as the buns are out there most of the day they would eat it all in one day before it had a chance to grow no doubt!

You could try tall planters? We might get an old whisky barrel and put a new bottom in it a foot from the top so that we can put herbs in it where the rabbits can't reach.
Alternatively, you could try hanging baskets which are out of reach of the buns, or just stopping them having access - put potted plants in decorative bird cages then the buns only get the growth which is sticking out but it still looks nice.

I think a lot of buns are quite picky about rosemary and lavender so you might have luck with those.
 
The boards will kill off the grass underneath, ask on free cycle and you can probably pick up stepping stones/paving slabs for free. The grass will perk up over the next few weeks now the weathers warmed up, it doesn't grow much in winter so always looks looks a bit sad. You might have to reseed a few areas.

I would go for pots or planters, then use wider mesh over the top in a dome shape, the plants will grow through but that will keep the rabbits from digging the roots and stripping the plants right back. Just pick rabbit safe ones.

Another option would be to use climbers and protect the stem with a tube of mesh and then have the plant growing 2' and up out of reach. That side fence would be perfect for it with the slats. I'd go for bunny safe just incase but a climbing rose might work well. The gap between the run and the aviary would be a good place to put a climber as easily blocked, then let it go up and over the aviary.
 
:oops: Mine is not brilliant either so picked up some ideas on here. Really ours needs digging up, new drainage and levelling. I think will use some ideas off here and maybe get some timothy grass seeds off Rabbit Nutrition, then I know they will be safe for the bunnies.

Stepping stones look really nice. We used to have them in our front garden until we widened the path. Cheap and easy to do too ;)
 
:oops: Mine is not brilliant either so picked up some ideas on here. Really ours needs digging up, new drainage and levelling. I think will use some ideas off here and maybe get some timothy grass seeds off Rabbit Nutrition, then I know they will be safe for the bunnies.

Stepping stones look really nice. We used to have them in our front garden until we widened the path. Cheap and easy to do too ;)

I've just been looking at rabbit nutrition's timothy grass seeds, are the seeds themselves bun safe do you think?

I have a bit of a dilemna - I have runs on grass with mesh that I was hoping the grass would grow through, but it hasn't really worked and the grass is practically gone. I can't turf over the mesh as it's a rented house and I'm not sure what I'd do if we have to move - the contract may or may not be up for renewal in august. As it is, if we took the run away it would look pretty awful anyway, we might ave to either turf or lose some deposit anyway.

I'm guessing if I put seeds in their run I'd have to keep them out until it was established? They'd have limited space that way :(
 
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