Planting outdoor enclosure

[Izzy's keeper]

Izzy's outdoor enclosure is done and he loves it. I have a terracotta pot hide in there that is buried under a mound of dirt. Izzy loves to crawl over it. He is knocking off all the dirt that was put there to keep the hide cool. Is there something I can plant on top of the hide to keep the dirt up there ? I don't want to plant his seed mix up there. I'm afraid he will fall off the front side if he's eating up there. Put a pic with this hope you can see what I mean.

 

[wellington]

Can you bury it deeper? Otherwise what if you planted a couple plants on each side of it and one in front of it but off to one side a bit. This may help him from just going over.

 

[Yellow Turtle01]

Tortoises are little bulldozers and they run over EVERYTHING! You could try a sturdier plant like hibiscus, but he would probably just climb right over

 

[Jacqui]

I agree with Barb's ideas and the hibiscus suggestion from above would be a good one to use.

You could also use a section of your lawn instead of loose soil like you have used. The lawn section would have the root stability already in it. Otherwise pat down the soil and go ahead and plant those seeds (or use something that spreads a bit as the plant on top... such as rose moss or a sedum). If he doesn't fall off it in the normal course of his day with just dirt up there, he shouldn't with it planted with something he is up there eating. Plus with plants there it is more stable and he is less likely to slide off.

 

[Izzy's keeper]

Thank you for the suggestions. I think the rose moss or sedum is the kind of idea I was looking for. He loves to climb over the hide and I would hate to take that away from him. Just needed something that would secure the dirt up there. Moss would be perfect. Now to see if I can find it around here. If not I will dig up a piece of turf from my lawn. Great ideas. I knew someone here could help.

 

[babytortie]

Thank you for the suggestions. I think the rose moss or sedum is the kind of idea I was looking for. He loves to climb over the hide and I would hate to take that away from him. Just needed something that would secure the dirt up there. Moss would be perfect. Now to see if I can find it around here. If not I will dig up a piece of turf from my lawn. Great ideas. I knew someone here could help.

Nice enclosure you have there! I like the pathway you've added.

May I ask, what type of soil you have used? I'm in the process of making an outdoor "space" for my baby sulcata (just for outdoor sunshine time) in an old garden box that I have. I purchased some natural garden soil (kellogg's brand) but it seems really course and has some type of woodchip mixed in so I'm not sure if that's safe to use as a substrate or for planting seeds. Your soil looks more "fine".

 

[johnsonnboswell]

I just put the half pots on top of the substrate without attempting to bury them. The torts will dig themselves in sometimes.