Living Fence

[kdjorgensen98]

I am in the process of preparing my Minnesota property for a team of shires, and am curious to know if anyone has any experience with using a living fence, specifically Lilacs, as a barrier for large animals such as these? Any input is appreciated!

-Kristian

[JaredWoodcock]

From my experience it depends on the individual animal as well as many other factors. I have some old hedgerows that are multifloral rose and honeysuckle that most horses and cattle wont push through. I think lilacs would be a good addition but I am not sure if they could do it on their own. With that being said I know they would push through if the pasture was smaller, grazed off, or they had one of many other reasons to get out of dodge. I like to have the hedgerow with a single strand of electric fence just inside of it. When the grass in the hedgerow gets thick or I want to push it back a little I will take the electric down and let the animals browse into it.

In my ideal world there wouldnt be high speed roads nearby that my animals could get hit by cars on and I would use living fences on all of the pastures with the understanding that a few times a year they would get out and wander the neighborhood.

[Kevin Cunningham]

I love the idea of living fences and I have thought a lot about putting in some hedgerows on our property and I probably still will. I heard once that you should invest in a fence up to the liability when the animals get out. I other words if the animals getting out would be costly then you need to invest more in the fence. That being said all fencing even the most robust is psychological control. If the animal wants or needs to get out they will. My electric fences have about the same success rate as the neighbors barbed wire.

[carl ny]

The back side of my pasture is a creek, I have never fenced the other side. The horses go to the creek and stand in the water to drink but in 35 years they have never gone across, yet when I ride them they will cross any creek. I have no idea why except that they have no reason to, they are fed good on this side. Not saying that it is a good idea, just saying.

carl nny

[Ron]

My horses ate their way through my daughters favourite Lilac bushes. I won’t count on lilac keeping them in.
Cheers
Ron

[Author]

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