Although it’s winter we’re still very much in a dry season and as someone who’s now saving to purchase a house and hoping in the not too distant future to have land – and plenty of it! – I’m very aware of what trees and other plants I need to be putting on the property.
I want shrubs or trees that are going to be windbreaks, protection from the sun, provide shelter in rain and why shouldn’t they also be something that is appealing to a horse’s palate?
I love the idea of a one stop shop where you can go for your hay needs –Lucerne, grass and clover – as well as trees suitable as windbreaks, shelter from the sun and rain and that are also edible.The perfect place to go for your all your forage and fodder needs!
I’m not sure such a place exists, but I’d be very interested in visiting a business that grew a variety of trees and shrubs that would be a good investment on any horse property to plant and could also be utilised as food if the grazing got scarce. A perfect example of this is the Lucerne tree or Tagasaste and there are many others.
So why not when considering your laneway plants and windbreaks look into a tree that perhaps is tolerant of dry conditions and fruitful in it’s foliage that could be used as fodder if need be?
Horses comment on a car -“150 horsepower, big deal. I’d be impressed if it ran on hay.”
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