Horse-friendly plants that are easy to grow?

[AWinter]

We’ve just put a small track in for our horses and I’d really like to start a plant and herb garden in the middle so we can pick our own for the horses.

I have never planted anything in my life Any tips and ideas? I’d really like to plant some willow as they love that, looking at mint and fennel, we already have cleavers in the hedgerow.

 

[expanding_horizon]

Cleavers / sticky willie

 

[nutjob]

Mine don't like mint. They're OK with oregano and I'm going to try thyme and rosemary this year as oily herbs are supposed to be beneficial, might do some marigolds also. They enjoy ash and beech but I don't know if I would plant them specifically unless part of a hedge.

 

[PurBee]

Mine go nuts for parsley, the huge italian flatleaf or the curly variety. I dont let them gorge it free graze…i feed it as and when.
Young willow whips planted are a good idea - they love young fresh leafy branches.

Google whether they can eat nasturtium leaves and flowers - we humans can eat both without issue, but unsure if horses can. Its delicious. It grows really fast with long tendrils loaded with large bright flowers and nice big round leaves - looks gorgeous aswell as being very tasty.

Sainfoin is easy to grow - its antiparasitical aswell - looks pretty when it goes to flower with its pink blossoms - that will reach 2-3 foot tall and prefers more sandy/alkaline soil to grow well - i added a handful of calcium pellets to the loamy soil i planted it in. Its perennial so doesnt require re-sowing - its constantly sprouting new shoots throughout the season of growth and can become quite a dense clump of leaves and flower stems.

Dandelions are full of great nutrition - including the root - the root is fab for liver health - they’ll happily munch fresh roots, and the leaves. The flowers are diuretic so i wouldnt feed loads of them but give some here and there.

If you were to plant an area for them to have ‘free choice grazing’ of a mixed herb garden, the plants are unlikely to get to mature development as they’ll nibble everything that grows straight-away. I have a separate area from their grazing that i plant and pick myself for them as they grow, and keep them away from it, so the plants can mature, giving higher yields for a long grow season.

Celery some of them love. Its anti-inflammatory aswell. Full of minerals.

 

[AWinter]

Mine go nuts for parsley, the huge italian flatleaf or the curly variety. I dont let them gorge it free graze…i feed it as and when.
Young willow whips planted are a good idea - they love young fresh leafy branches.

Google whether they can eat nasturtium leaves and flowers - we humans can eat both without issue, but unsure if horses can. Its delicious. It grows really fast with long tendrils loaded with large bright flowers and nice big round leaves - looks gorgeous aswell as being very tasty.

Sainfoin is easy to grow - its antiparasitical aswell - looks pretty when it goes to flower with its pink blossoms - that will reach 2-3 foot tall and prefers more sandy/alkaline soil to grow well - i added a handful of calcium pellets to the loamy soil i planted it in. Its perennial so doesnt require re-sowing - its constantly sprouting new shoots throughout the season of growth and can become quite a dense clump of leaves and flower stems.

Dandelions are full of great nutrition - including the root - the root is fab for liver health - they’ll happily munch fresh roots, and the leaves. The flowers are diuretic so i wouldnt feed loads of them but give some here and there.

If you were to plant an area for them to have ‘free choice grazing’ of a mixed herb garden, the plants are unlikely to get to mature development as they’ll nibble everything that grows straight-away. I have a separate area from their grazing that i plant and pick myself for them as they grow, and keep them away from it, so the plants can mature, giving higher yields for a long grow season.

Celery some of them love. Its anti-inflammatory aswell. Full of minerals.

Thanks the horses won’t have access to it I just want to be able to cut bits off and put them out and about on the track for them to forage.

I am now googling how to plant things

 

[AutumnDays]

I planted a fair bit throughout my fields for various benefits last year ( hoping it comes back after the rain!), I have Fennel, plantain, yarrow, chicory, sainfoin, borage, calendula, milk thistle, lemon balm, camomile, cow parsley, dandelion, cleavers and a few different types of grass. Also am in the process of clearing hedging to allow the hazel, ash, willow and dog rose to get more of a foot hold!

 

[AWinter]

I planted a fair bit throughout my fields for various benefits last year ( hoping it comes back after the rain!), I have Fennel, plantain, yarrow, chicory, sainfoin, borage, calendula, milk thistle, lemon balm, camomile, cow parsley, dandelion, cleavers and a few different types of grass. Also am in the process of clearing hedging to allow the hazel, ash, willow and dog rose to get more of a foot hold!

Oh wow, how do you plant stuff in hedges? Our hedgerow is mostly hawthorn and I’d love to have some other stuff come through.

 

[cauda equina]

Do you spray?
If so stopping could allow some things to grow that your horses might enjoy, and they will be free!

 

[tda]

We were going to do this, got Rosemary and Thyme, then first is ramping along, the 2nd died

 

[teacups]

Willow is extremely easy to plant. Take a willow twig, and stick it in the ground. It will root. They prefer wet ground as a rule. We chopped some willow down and even the pile of logs started rooting.

 

[AWinter]

Do you spray?
If so stopping could allow some things to grow that your horses might enjoy, and they will be free!

Land hasn’t been sprayed for a decade but unfortunately it hasn’t been managed well and it’s just full of clover and something that I believe is sticky chickweed? Not healthy land.

Willow is extremely easy to plant. Take a willow twig, and stick it in the ground. It will root. They prefer wet ground as a rule. We chopped some willow down and even the pile of logs started rooting.

Oh wow that’s good to know, we do have some willow on the other side of the property I can steal from

 

[AutumnDays]

Oh wow, how do you plant stuff in hedges? Our hedgerow is mostly hawthorn and I’d love to have some other stuff come through.

Most of the stuff was already there, just being strangled by brambles etc. We also bought some whips via the woodland trust, they have a good selection to choose from. They do arrive tiny though, so patience is needed!

 

[santas_spotty_pony]

Mint is really easy to grow - although I grew some for my elderly mare a few years ago and she didn’t like it!

 

[Glitter's fun]

We’ve just put a small track in for our horses and I’d really like to start a plant and herb garden in the middle so we can pick our own for the horses.

I have never planted anything in my life Any tips and ideas? I’d really like to plant some willow as they love that, looking at mint and fennel, we already have cleavers in the hedgerow.

What is there already? Are you going to make a garden with bare, weeded soil or do you want things that will grow amongst grass? How wet is it? How much sun does it get?

Generally, if you start with seeds that would give you a bigger choice and be much cheaper but don't just chuck seeds amongst grass. You need to grow little plants in plug trays or pots, & then plant them when they are big enough not to get swamped.

 

[Glitter's fun]

Parsley or chiccory are easy to grow but not perennial - they are biennials that flower in their second summer & then die & you have to replant new ones. I love chiccory. It has lovely blue flowers and is very tough. Giant red celery seeds itself around my place but it's a bit of an anarchist & decides it's own places to appear!


Perennials -
Mint is easy .
Sorrel.
Fennel
Lovage likes plenty of water
yarrow grows as a weed in my path, so I'm guessing it likes to be fairly dry (?)

Rosemary, thyme, oregano and sage need a lot of sun and not too wet in winter. They will die if it gets waterlogged.

 

[blitznbobs]

Comfrey is good for horses

 

[Clodagh]

I can’t imagine anyone voluntarily planting willow in the middle of a field, it’s super invasive and you’ll never get rid of it. In a hedge, maybe. But it probably won’t like the lack of water in a hedge.

 

[Glitter's fun]

Comfrey is good for horses

Comfrey is VERY invasive. I wouldn't plant it at all. You can get a gardeners' variety called "Bocking 14" that is meant to be less invasive but I'd still not chance it myself.

If you plant willow put it on the north edge so it doesn't take light off the rest of the space. Keep it well trimmed. (Viciously trimmed- right down to the ground!)
We have 2 kinds of willow. The common "goat willow" gets big & woody like a proper tree, although you can coppice it regularly to keep it small. We also have some osier willow that came from a basket maker. Just as easy to grow- just push sticks into the ground but it grows like a clumpy small bush & is easier to cut.

 

[tda]

If you are having a specific area, you could "plant" the invasive stuff in the pots to stop them taking over

 

[nutjob]

yarrow grows as a weed in my path, so I'm guessing it likes to be fairly dry

Apparently it does prefer a dry environment but it still grows like a weed on my heavy clay frequently water logged property. My horses don't eat it and I spent hours last year pulling out multiple sizeable patches which amounted to several wheelbarrows full of the stuff.

 

[teacups]

The sticky chickweed - if it's cleavers (stickybuds) that's good for horses.
There is meadowsweet growing naturally in our fields (wet clay ground) and that's very good for horses as well - I think it was gut health, but not sure.

 

[HopOnTrot]

My mare loves the massive thistle heads, both of them are partial to DH’s hornbeam hedge