My responsibility for horse-safe perimeter plants?

[TheJenners]

OK this did turn into more of a cathartic vent than anything, but… I’m leaving it in case anyone has suggestions! Bring on the COTH bashing :lol:

Quick background: I have nine acres situated as a long rectangle. The top part of my rectangle, where my house is, shares a fence with a slumlord. It is acreage with two houses he rents out, then evicts and fixes and rents again and evicts again… anyway. Rundown. Old houses, trashy yards with trash/debris piles/car parts/Conex boxes/some RVs that will never run again.

He rents the pasture to someone else who is not a tenant on the property itself, and we will call him Bob. Bob has two horses. When I first bought and was still in the building stage, I had to send letters to Bob and the property owner (who is not the landlord) regarding the fence. I had already had to get one horse out of the saggy rusted-through field fence with rotten posts, t-posts leaning at greater than 45 degrees, baling twine here-n-there (painting a picture), and they were grazing through/over the fence approx three or four feet onto my property. The letter had my address, phone, name, and applicable state and local laws in regards to lawful fence and who would be responsible for damage if they got out. Bob called and tried to get borderline threatening/bullying with me, it was unsuccessful and he has been polite in person since and attempted to improve the fence with new t-posts, and has been slowly replacing all the fence with new t-posts and four strands of barb wire. They still graze onto my property.

I want to plant something to block some/most/all of my view of this property. It will be three-ish feet onto my property. So far I am trying to find things that if these horses dine upon the hedge/trees, they will suffer no ill effects. I’m looking at hedge roses and seeing mixed reviews on whether or not these are safe but they also seem to be considered fine dining by hungry equines. I do not want to plant something that is destroyed. I love rhodies but they are definitely on the poisonous list, but if they are planted four feet onto my property, is it my responsibility if the horses lean against the fence and eat them? Again, not planning on rhodies but… I am Googling each plant that meets my growth/height/evergreen or dense deciduous check list to make sure they are safe, and most that are safe are also tasty :no:.

Here is the original fence after some initial attempts to fix, and it’s hard to see because I mowed but they graze through and I marked it:
https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/35226837_10216950845784977_2245104659750453248_o.jpg?_nc_cat=0&_nc_eui2=AeFyuiOGrM1hVlxcqt2MLMrPN7FyIVlVhnujB9JC3VEFHJAMt_6WBmmRVnKZl4NU1Mpx6C2eDfEDmmG2fWrSMNsaVD70oDa2Hz1KivcLkznhvQ&oh=09c0defaecce31861ec340c36a5e8c57&oe=5BA8E6AC

Here is where he has replaced, and you can see they graze into my hay field a bit but not much:
https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/35193474_10216950850105085_977778343208288256_o.jpg?_nc_cat=0&_nc_eui2=AeEMZZDiKoCOV5FL7tYSQt8gdYCAJIlX4V3uUYaL-hdshMYIK2q8Gp7gxu9zsOXrtoZU5N82Q0XIba4oWXlOtA-BKvplt1ozw5f_5tjJFR_MKw&oh=99bae361df42a8672b3e6b9fcead4995&oe=5B7A42E2

Here is what I want to hide, because my kitchen, dining room, and master bedroom face this direction…

https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/35327461_10216950853465169_3219029618430312448_o.jpg?_nc_cat=0&_nc_eui2=AeFtHwcHsGGtOPos6iBljGcDbYLgclbmUd3LBoFnfgk8CAAXLlscwyZX14AzO-UBKha04RxJZQOxsJ9vjzztkwwJ2AgiH4YdGsJagOurjN5TpQ&oh=270dcc782da3e36fc1455110b0fc71a3&oe=5BA56331

https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/35244539_10216950847465019_2439300863009751040_o.jpg?_nc_cat=0&_nc_eui2=AeFPCl-gqfb5lSFmtkjfgbsU3lN1Lt4VMy-GKVFIJYl9uyaQbtklOnUgG6Dt6ZoWSMPzSVDTvUZ4g0haWNkMPBYTFtITuF2wgiD_zBXPb1WDCw&oh=32e19d16b7ed4e8db3738d7c747822eb&oe=5BB89C22

If you have plant suggestions (I do not like 98 percent of evergreen trees), all ears. If you think that if I plant several feet onto my own property that I am no longer responsible for shitty fence by horses that belong to someone who is not a permanent resident (owner), or if you think I am ultimately responsible for any health issues arising from them eating my landscaping, say so. I’m willing to try to get in touch with Bob again and let him know that his improved fence is great, he needs to finish it, because I’m planting things that might be bad for Dobbin and Blackie. Yes my side has a pile of manure on it, we cleared that corner and I am composting for deciduous trees and landscaping for next year, but otherwise my side is tidy and free of trash and debris. No my horses don’t share a fence line with any neighbor based on my thread a year or two back. I guess this is more of a vent than anything because so far I haven’t won the lottery to try to purchase this lot (my dad loves the run down barn and wants to reno the original early 1900s farmhouse (which I know needs meth decon :no:)).

[tinah]

My crew doesn’t mess with multiflora roses, blackberries, forsythia, lilacs, crepe myrtle, privet, or boxwood. I’m not sure if they grow in your area, but here any of the above would make a pretty serious hedge in a year or two, as well as providing cover for birds.

[Guilherme]

One more time: Extension is your friend!!!

Seriously, contact them. They can give you very specific help. If they can’t, or you want a deeper answer, as them to give a referral to the university that sponsors/employs them. There you can find “the next level” of assistance.

Good luck in your project.

G.

[Bluey]

Not your preference, but here people plant cypress trees for privacy in situations like yours.
There are several kinds of those, some may grow where you are.
They will very quickly make a tall barrier and horses won’t munch on them.

If you keep the bottom 2’-3’ trimmed, you can mow around them and keep rattlers away, important here.

[Raincityrider]

Privet is poisonous to horses so I would rule that one out.

If you want year long privacy an evergreen hedge would fit the bill. Arborvitae are ok around horses and the Emerald green variety doesn’t need trimming. It tops out at 12-15 feet tall and 3 feet wide. If you don’t like the look maybe you could plant a Rose hedge in front for a layered effect. Buy the tallest you can if you go that route because they are slow growers.

[Scribbler]

Evergreens are the only thing that will block a view year round. The tried and true hedging in the PNW is invasive feral Himalaya blackberry (the kudzu of the PNW, it’s like living growing razor wire) but you don’t really want that on your tidy pasture line. Horses do eat it but they can’t eat it all. But it’s more in tune with the neighboring property’s style than with yours

Adding, I wouldn’t plant anything thats of questionable horse friendly statys because while it’s a hay field now you can’t guarantee that forever. You may decide to run horses on it or even sell the property ten years down the line and clearing out mature shubbery is expensive and tedious. Also nothing that could cause a problem if it gets into your hay, because it will.

[clanter]

I had the same battle with a neighbor… it was my fence set on the property line that I paid 100% for before they moved in and his horses basically destroyed the fence. After several attempts to get him to split the cost of repair I replaced the fence five feet into my property line then torn down my old fence…then filed a complaint with the city’s animal control office to make the neighbor keep his stock on his property… he had to build a fence

[TheJenners]

I am leaning toward rugosa rose hedges, they are native here and can grow like gangbusters. Dense enough that even in winter should shield most… maybe…

My current hay field will not remain so but for another couple years, it is what it is now so I don’t have to mow. A neighbor cuts it for hay, solves my issue. Eventually there will be a small wildflower area for birds and bees, because I can do nothing else around my septic and well head, but that is all. I am not worried about improving or degrading the current hay field.

[Simkie]

Do you like the way holly bushes look? They’re pokey, dense, evergreen. Some can be fast growing. The berries can be toxic, but not very, and it would be a weird horse to eat those.

[UrbanHennery]

How about Douglas Spirea? It’s native, It grows quickly and sends runners so you could have a fairly dense hedge quickly. It tolerates most soil conditions once established. It’s no evergreen, but it’s close to it around here. I’ve got some that volunteered into my landscaping and I like it enough that I’ve left it. I’ve no idea if horses will eat it (and google didn’t help quickly) but I’m sure the Conservation District would know.

https://plants.usda.gov/factsheet/pdf/fs_spdo.pdf

[susanne]

Could you instead remove all vegetation within reach of that fence…perhaps create a gravel lane along the fenceline? We have a dry lot backing up to our gravel parking area. Nothing grows there, so the horses are never tempted to reach through or under. (Unlike our other fencelines…)

Would your neighbor be willing to run hotwire, or let you do so? I’d suggest that you run it on your side, but I’d hate to see his horse jerk his head back through the barbed wire.

[B_and_B]

I’d go with rugosa rose or, not sure they would grow in your area or if you can even find them, Osage Orange, which was the original north american fence. You would also have a fruit (not edible) that would baffle just about every person out there. But grown as a hedge, Osage is also a really good people barrier.
I find the evergreens are either toxic or can’t deal with repeat browsing. Most of the deciduous plants can handle heavy browsing, they just get denser.

[Dressage59]

@Raincityrider Definitely appreciate your post as I didn’t know privet was poisonous to horses. I had some in a pen when I purchased the property and have just left it. It’ll definitely be removed now! Thanks!!!

[danacat]

Since you don’t like evergreens then perhaps Rose of Sharon? They make a great summer screen, are fast growing + they bloom (come in lots of colors) and their seeds are prolific = will make more bushes right where they drop. I’ve heard Japanese beetles can be a problem, but I haven’t seen them on my bushes – at least not in in any sort of numbers.

Once mature, Rose of Sharon are quite dense so branches do provide a certain amount of winter-time screening and birds love them year round. I have one bush that is approaching 11’ tall and still growing – so they do get some height to them too – sort of like a multibranch tree.

[bathsheba8542]

The wild rose or blackberry sounds like good options … I think they are both pretty, they stay dense, and the birds love them.

[horsepoor]

I was going to suggest a laurel hedge, but looked it up and I guess it can be toxic. We had it around our place in town when I was a kid and it was a great screen, but wasn’t in an area that horses had access to.

One word of caution on the native roses, they can spread like mad and be difficult to keep in check. We have some on a terrace below the house and they are actually “on the list” to be pulled out as they keep sending suckers all over, so popping up in the rock retaining walls, on another terrace, down in the lawn, etc. They do grow like gangbusters and make a nice screen in the summer, but are outgrowing their current location. We’ll still have a bunch in other locations (deer won’t eat them, a big plus here!) but this was a bad choice on our part to put them where we did. In summer they do make a great screen and in the winter, even with no foliage, the stems are really dense so they do provide a good amount of screening.

[TMares]

Privet is common as water in the SE and my horses have access to it and ignore it, just as they ignore buttercups (that are also poisonous).

I would plant leland cypress and be done.

[SimpleSimon]

You might look into Oregon Grape as an option.

[Mango20]

I think you should avoid anything that’s highly toxic, like the rhododendrons, because you also have horses/donkeys. Even if they’re not accessible from your pasture, you never know if they’ll get out someday. When choosing to plant something new, I wouldn’t take the risk (I would assume the risk for stuff that’s already there, I think).

It sounds like Bob is trying to do the right thing and his improved fence is much better (but barbed wire). I wouldn’t get upset about the small amount of grazing onto your side of the good fence. It helps keep the area neat, and you don’t have to worry about mowing too close to the fence posts. It might also keep weeds from growing up into whatever you plant there to block the view.

Growing up, there was a privet hedge between my horses and the neighbor’s (along with a shared barbed wire fence). The hedge was planted by my father before we got our own horses. Horses from both sides of the fence nibbled on it from time to time but mostly left it alone. No harm was done by the nibbling. It may be one that’s not as toxic as others.

[TheJenners]

@Scribbler

The tried and true hedging in the PNW is invasive feral Himalaya blackberry (the kudzu of the PNW, it’s like living growing razor wire) but you don’t really want that on your tidy pasture line. Horses do eat it but they can’t eat it all. But it’s more in tune with the neighboring property’s style than with yours

Missed this, but I’m actually encouraging the growth on my front (roadside) fence by lopping the stragglers to keep it tidier. I like blackberry and my dogs love it and self-graze :lol:, and it’s good hidey holes for the birds too. I want a birds-and-bees flora as much as possible (I’m cultivating swallows but have to watch the cliff swallows around my soffits the little sneaky sneaks, I have hummingbird feeders, and my small rhodies this year had furry little bee butts all over!) even if it means I have to net my blueberries and other fruiting plants/trees.

@UrbanHennery

How about Douglas Spirea? It’s native, It grows quickly and sends runners so you could have a fairly dense hedge quickly.

A different Spirea (snowcloud?) is already on my possible list for next year, so thanks for this!

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@susanne

Could you instead remove all vegetation within reach of that fence…perhaps create a gravel lane along the fenceline?

My complaint isn’t actually the fence-fence or the horses grazing through, since it is no longer in danger of falling over; it was more than whatever I plant will be unhealthy for the horses doing it OR get totally demolished and by money down the drain for me. I actually want vegetation here as a screen :yes: But thank you, I agree I don’t want them hurt on the fence either.

@B and B and @danacat looking at your options as well!!