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Bushes with rabbit-appropriate leaves

tlcwrites

Mama Doe
With human-safe berries?

Will be planting another soon. I like my fruit bushes to be multipurpose.

Already have:
Bramble (everywhere! Non-intentionally)
Tayberry
Raspberry
Loganberry
Redcurrant

Would like to know more for future reference as well. :)

Thanks <3
 
With human-safe berries?

Will be planting another soon. I like my fruit bushes to be multipurpose.

Already have:
Bramble (everywhere! Non-intentionally)
Tayberry
Raspberry
Loganberry
Redcurrant

Would like to know more for future reference as well. :)

Thanks <3

I try to do this with most plants. It's not always possible, but I try to avoid buying anything just because it's pretty :)

I can't think of any other fruit bushes as you've got a good selection there. I am a big fan of Hops though as a climber (would be happy in a pot). We dry the Hops and decorate the inside of the house with them and all of my rabbits have been very large fans of Hop leaves and you get a lot!
 
Jerusalem artichokes :) Not strictly a bush but a human-edible tuber and a bunny-safe leaf/stalk. Blackcurrant and flowering blackcurrant are both illicit favourites here (as in they won't eat them if we put them inside their areas, only if we poke them in! Weirdos). Small apple trees and the like are good bushes if you can get them. Gooseberry twigs are a firm favourite with our bunnies too, but not with my legs and I'm not a big fan of gooseberries :lol: Ours also won't eat certain cultivars of blackberry: we've one that's got loads of spikes, small leaves and tiny, pointless, tasteless fruits, and they don't like that at all except while it's actually in the ground and growing, they won't eat it cut. They also don't like our autumn raspberry leaves: the cultivar we have is horrible, neither me nor the buns like it!

We are also in our longterm planning of the garden trying to limit it down to 'useful' plants! We've established that we're replacing the hedge of unidentified plants with hawthorn, except for the tiny quince :)
 
This is starting to sound like a list of things on my allotment, for exactly the same reasons you want to grow them:

Jerusalem artichokes are good - they look like sunflowers, make a good windbreak, but can get slightly invasive if just left (although the bunnies should sort that out). About 6' tall canes / stems in Summer, but they die down completely in Winter.
Blackcurrants and all crosses with gooseberries (Josta, Worcester, etc). The crosses are more like blackcurrant bushes but with bigger, more oval fruit. Makes lovely jam.
White currant - same as redcurrant, but with white fruits. Tends to be a bit less vigorous.
Apples and crab apples. Very pretty flowers. Crab apples look really good in different colour fruits in Autumn.
Roses - climbing, hedging, etc, All parts bunny edible, hips can be made into syrups, etc.
Rosemary, lavender - make nice low hedges
Strawberries - I plant them under everything on the allotment to keep the weeds out, even if they don't fruit under the blackcurrants.
Mint is also useful as ground cover between fruit bushes. Lots of varieties available.

Lilac and buddlia are bunny friendly and can be part of an informal hedge.
 
We have a huge buddleia in the front garden, lavenders too. I was wondering about blueberry, honeyberry etc. types for leaf suitability.

We use these plants as grave markers in pots. Having them then producing useful products for the household (including animals) is my preferred touch afterwards. Iris's tayberries have thrived this year. :)
 
Forgot to add that I'm still undecided this time - I'll probably just get what I can find given it is now more the end of the growing season.
 
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