Hello GPOders!
Today we return to the garden of Tingshu Hu and her husband, Philip Zhao, in Dunstable, Massachusetts. Tingshu has shared her vibrant space several times in the past (Tingshu Low Maintenance Garden, Flowering Trees in Tingshu Garden, Summer in Tingshu Front Garden, and Summer in Tingshu Back Garden), but more recently her designs have appear in issue 221 of Fine gardening magazine! Be sure to check out this feature here: A space created with Chinese design elements and English garden aesthetics
While there's endless interest in plants and hardscapes to explore in this New England garden, Tingshu shares another garden element that provides as much benefit as entertainment: a flock of chickens!
We have about 30 chickens. They produce most of the fertilizers for gardens. When the growing season is over, we invite them into the gardens to eat whatever they want, the flowers, leaves, seeds and insects.
A Yokohama rooster follows a black hen. One of her favorite flowers is sweet white alyssum (Lobularia maritimezones 5-9). After a few days, all the white petals will disappear. Then I'll pull some alyssum plants from the front garden and bring them into the coop. They also eat leaves like sweet William (Dianthus barbatuszones 3-9) and the Shasta daisy (Leucanthemum x superbumzones 5-9).
In the center of the back garden, the Prairiefire crabapple (bad Zones 4-8 “Prairiefire” it is loaded with red berries. The little birds have started to eat the berries but they are out of reach of the hens. In the winter, I will pick the berries and feed the chickens.
The small cock is an old English duck cock (silver duck wing). He is 2.5 years old. The hen is a barred rock, 1.5 years old.
A buff rock walks along a path. He is also 1.5 years old.
The Silver Duck-winged Rooster and two Barred Rock Hens. The hen under Solomon's seal he is 9.5 years old.
A Colombian rock hen on the stone retaining wall. She is 4 years old.
During the summer, the chickens are kept in the coop, taking care of the fruit trees. Philip's Cape Rooster is a Japanese White Rooster with a Black Tail. His favorite sport is flying over a human, thankfully never pooped on the head.
The gray Polish hen is 10.5 years old. Black polish is 8.5. They are not related but are attracted to each other due to similar goofy personality. They do not mix with other chickens, possibly because they are aware that other chickens think they are strange. They are very sweet birds. They can't see very well, so I can sneak up behind them and take them by surprise. All visitors love them.
The Yokohama rooster crowing on a peach tree. He eats some peach after singing.
My granddaughter's favorite activity (2 years old) is feeding the chickens. In early May, forsythia flowers are very convenient. The flowers on the lower branches have been eaten clean. I cut some upper branches every day to feed the chickens. They are not wasted as the forsythia is very vigorous and needs to be pruned heavily each year. The little hen on the left is an old English game cock, 11.5 years old. I like to take her to a hidden spot and feed her bugs or broken eggs.
Thanks so much for sharing your awesome flock of funky birds with us, Tingshu! With each new batch of photos you share of your garden, your space becomes more and more interesting.
Do you garden with chickens? Or maybe you have some ducks calling your garden pond home. We'd love to see your feathered friends! Follow the instructions below to submit your photos.
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