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Birdscaping

January 15, 2012 By Karen Creel

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I live on about 41/2 acres with most of that being in woods.  Even if you live on a small plot in the city, you can create a welcoming home for many different varieties of birds.  Birds are not only fun to watch but are a great addition to your garden, eating thousands of bugs each season. (and a few blueberrys!).  All you need to create your bird habitat is food, water, and shelter.

Food:  We have several different types of feeders including suet feeders.  This provides a variety of food to attract different types of birds.  The only feeders we don’t use are the ground feeders that dove like. We have two cats, Tinkerbell and J.R., who come and go in and out of the house as they please, and I don’t want to provide them with a little extra snack now and then.  I do have a chicken feeder with ground corn in it for my two hens, Rosa and Emma,
and it provides food for the birds, and the squirrels.
Water: We have a wet weather pond at the back of our property. When we bought this house, we didn’t realize the pond was not dug properly, so it does not hold water year round.  In the hottest summer months it may dry up, but most of the time there is water for the birds, and occasional mallard duck who lands. My birdbath in the front yard has had the cracks repaired too many times to mention and currently has an enamel bowl in it.  Keep the water unfrozen during the winter, and change frequently in the summer.

Shelter:  Trees, brush piles, bushes, and grasses.   All of these provide shelter for birds who like to fly to the feeder, then back to shelter.  Place your feeders close to shelter in case they need to return.  Bird houses are another type of shelter and provide a place for birds to raise their young.

Winter is a great time to plan next springs garden.  Look around your yard now and see how you can incorporate some birdscaping into it.  Take your time, don’t try to do it all at once. We have trees, feeders, bushes, houses and feeders now.  Next years garden plans are to bring in some fruit trees such as cherries and plums which are a great source of food for birds in the summer.

If you have kids or grandkids, let them start a bird count and find out how many birds are visiting their homes, and find out ways to bring in other species that may not be visiting your yard now.
Many gardeners think there is nothing to do in the winter, but it is a great time attract birds to benefit next years garden, and  is a great time to plan how you want to birdscape your home.
Karen

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A Quick Note…

Gardenchick is a place for gardeners, flea market fanatics, lovers of the farmhouse look, and purveyors of all things rusty!

I’m not sure when my fascination with junk began, but gardening was in my blood from an early age.  I remember my grandmother could throw a few seeds out and have the prettiest flowers.  Sweet peas were rampant beside the front porch.  I can see her now, bent over pulling weeds, and I find myself doing the same thing anytime I’m in the yard.  My dad was raised on a large farm, and even though he moved away, and we always lived in the city, he had a garden.  He had me help him  plant a garden in May before he died in August.  So you can see, gardening just comes naturally to me.

I can’t explain the love of rusty and all things chippy, but I have dug through more barns and sheds than I would like to admit to bring out a rusty wagon or old chicken feeder.

So, I hope you will follow along, and we can learn a few things together.  I’ll be sharing gardening ideas, my flea market finds, and thrifty ways to repurpose.

 

 

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