Keeping cows at bay
 

Hi everyone

My garden is in Southern Scotland
I've got a laurel hedge between my garden and a field where the farmer keeps
cows. I've been told that laurel is poisonous to cows, so I keep a fine mesh
net to protect the laurel. As a longer term measure, I'm growing holly
between the laurel and the field, but I'm worried that the cows will eat the
holly until it matures
a bit. As a temporary measure, I've sprayed the holly and surrounding area
with a water, detergent and paraffin (gasoline?) mixture.
Does anyone know if the spray will work, or is there a more effective
mixture which the cows hate but won't harm them?

Tom

Keeping cows at bay
 

"Tom" wrote in message
...
Hi everyone

My garden is in Southern Scotland
I've got a laurel hedge between my garden and a field where the
farmer keeps
cows. I've been told that laurel is poisonous to cows, so I keep a
fine mesh
net to protect the laurel. As a longer term measure, I'm growing
holly
between the laurel and the field, but I'm worried that the cows will
eat the
holly until it matures
a bit. As a temporary measure, I've sprayed the holly and
surrounding area
with a water, detergent and paraffin (gasoline?) mixture.
Does anyone know if the spray will work, or is there a more
effective
mixture which the cows hate but won't harm them?

Tom

Tom,

We also have cows over our boundary. I didn't think laurels were
poisonous to them. Our farmer neighbour has huge laurels, as do we.
He has cut his as a shelter with a drinking trough underneath. The
cows eat both his laurels and ours with no ill effects. They seem to
love it!

Regards
Iris McCanna

Keeping cows at bay
 

The only realistic answer is a proper stock proof fence. Obviously the
drawback is cost. You could consider a blackthorn hedge but it need years to
mature.