A Decorative Birding Garden
By: Steve Boulden | Posted: 18th May 2009
Birds can create some annoyance in the garden by scratching up seeds or pecking ripening fruit but most gardeners consider their feathered friends a desirable part of the gardenscape. If you want to create a bird-friendly zone in your garden, you can combine fulfilling that wish with adding a decoration or two to your landscape plan as well.
Food and shelter are two basic requirements for life. Feeding stations, birdbaths and nesting boxes can all be attractive features in any garden.
Feeding stations are excellent for attracting a variety of birds to your garden. You get maximum satisfaction if your feeding station is near a window, so you can enjoy watching the birds. Your visitors will feel more secure if there are trees, or at least sizeable shrubs, not too far away - this provides a degree of security in case your garden is visited by a neighbor's cat. Since some larger birds aggressively chase away smaller ones, keen bird fanciers might want to provide two sites, with different types of seeds attractive to the more common birds in the area - one site for larger birds and the other for the small ones. Since some seeds will spill or be dropped from the feeder, you might need to do some weeding of the area close to the feeder. Many attractive hanging feeders are available from garden nurseries, some combining an upper surface for seeds with a lower bowl for water.
Birds need water not just for drinking, but for bathing. A birdbath can make an outstanding feature, whether as a centerpiece of a formal arrangement of paths or lawn, or tucked away as a "surprise" feature that is revealed as the garden visitor turns a corner. There is a seemingly infinite array of designs, from the modern minimalist look to baths with extravagant baroque flourishes. The style probably doesn't bother the birds much, but the range of choice means you will certainly be able to find something that fits the style of your garden. Avoid bowls that are too deep: you are not providing a duck pond, and the birds need to have their feet resting on the surface of the bowl while they take their bath. For those living in extremely cold regions there are even solar-heated birdbaths available, so the water does not freeze over in winter!
If you want an even closer relationship with the local bird population, you can provide them with a home. Nesting boxes can, of course, be homemade. But if you want them to double as an ornamental addition to your garden you will find numerous designs, constructed of such diverse materials as wood, plastic and fibreglass. Although some are marketed as homes for a specific species of bird, such as robins or woodpeckers, be aware that squatters may very well arrive and attempt to take over.
For maximum benefit, all these bird-related artefacts - feeding stations, birdbaths and nesting boxes - should be cleaned at appropriate intervals to prevent the spread of disease.
Article from Steve Boulden of The Landscape Design Site which offers free landscaping plans, backyard landscaping ideas, project plans, videos, and pictures. For more free garden and landscaping ideas, visit www.the-landscape-design-site.com.This article is free for republishing
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Tags: centerpiece, annoyance, flourishes, attractive features, weeding, water birds, feeder, feathered friends, maximum satisfaction, birdbath, nesting boxes