The Wild Things

OK.  They are not plants.  But these finches are an important part of my garden.  I love watching them share the choice perches.  I love the songs they sing most of the day.  I love the colors of the red-chested house finches and especially the bright yellow and black goldfinches.  The birds and the pond are as important to my garden as any plant.

We used to feed the standard bird seed, but I've switched and exclusively buy the more expensive Nyjer, or thistle seed.  This is the seed the finches prefer.  I've found it everywhere the other bird seed is sold.  It's been treated so it doesn't sprout weeds under the feeder.  I do try to vacuum up the spent seeds every now and then, mainly for cleanliness.  I use the Leaf Hog to vacuum. 

We can go through about a bag a week, especially in the summer.  I have thought about buying a huge 50 pound bag, but then I'd have to find a place to store it.  So I buy one or two of the biggest bag I can find when I'm at Target, Walmart, or Home Depot.  The Walmart site said prices depend on location, so it may be different where you are.
Walmart:  $15.87 for 7 lbs
Home Depot $15.98 for 7 lbs


The feeders we use are similar to this one from Target.  Again, it's not cheap.  I love feeding the birds, but I do not like feeding the squirrels and rats.  We've tried a lot of different ways to keep these rodents away. 

• I thought having the feeders hanging from these tall "shepherd's crook" hangers would be enough, but the rodents can just run up the skinny poles as if they were ladders.  
• We've tried dried pepper flakes.  The theory is that the rodents' don't like the taste and the birds don't mind it.  
• We've tried a thistle "sock."   We had the plain kind and the fancy kind with a dome cover.  These didn't keep the rodents out.  The birds loved them!  We would have maybe 30 birds on the sock almost all day.  There were so many that it felt like a swarm or infestation.  We also went through a lot of bird seed!
• This style of bird feeder has springs inside.  When the heavier rodents land on the feeder, the outside falls down, closing off the holes.  When the feeder is full, 8 birds can feed at once.  There is often a bird waiting its turn on the top of the crook and more waiting in the bushes and the tree nearby.  We have 2 feeders in the back yard, so there are plenty of birds to watch.

We rarely have the squirrels empty out our feeder any more.  Occasionally a family of rats will move in.  When they get to be a problem I put a trap next to the fence by the feeder.  I surround the trap with an exercise pen to keep the dog from getting his nose or paw caught in the trap.

I just moved one feeder closer to our bedroom window.  I was afraid it would not work out there.  I was afraid it was too close.  I thought the birds would be too wary of our movements inside.  They often, but not always, fly away when we're moving around.  If we sit still, they don't seem to mind us too much, though they do seem to keep an eye on us.  I was also worried they would run into the glass.  That hasn't been a problem yet.  One of the first things I do in the morning is open the shades so I can watch the birds for a while. I love having the feeder closer to the window so I can get a close view.

I think the location of the feeder is important.  When I gave up on the thistle socks, I gave them to a friend and she never saw any birds on it.  I think she said she had it by her front sidewalk.  Perhaps there was too much traffic there.  I think she also has cats, so that might be the problem as well.  I think the birds appreciate a tree where they can fly to escape or rest.  But there may be other reasons why we can attract so many birds here.  Even before we had the feeders I would seem them in our trees and splashing in the waterfall.  We may also be in the flight path where other people feed birds.  When you first put a bird feeder out, be patient.  Try one location for at least a week or two.  If they don't use the feeder by that time, try moving it.

This site sells a different kind of feeder.  I might give their roller feeder a try!   They recommend sunflower kernals.  I don't know if their feeder would work with the tiny Nyjer seeds.  The site does offer some great  feeding tips and links.

Let the water flow!

We had a leak. . .  not a major leak and it turned out not to be much of a problem to repair.  But to locate the leak we had to turn off the waterfall.  And since the leak was in the skimmer we needed to keep the waterfall and pump turned off until we could get it fixed.

Oh, how I missed the sound of the waterfall!  It brings life to our whole home!  The sound lulls me to sleep at night.  The sight of the waterfall greets me in the morning as I get my coffee.  Even now, as I sit at my desk, I can hear it flowing. It is truly the highlight of our garden.

Due to a series of technical issues, we had trouble touching base with Frank Cornellier.  I worried that we would have to find someone else to call on for maintenance.  Frank has a special touch when he builds ponds.  He builds ponds that function as close to a natural system as possible, so there really is very little that needs to be done on a regular basis.  One guy that came had a very different philosophy for ponds.  It sounded as if his ponds were really more designed to showcase koi.  You could put koi in our pond, but our pond showcases our yard, not the fish.  The goldfish don't need daily feeding.  The are pretty, but if a raccoon, opossum, or egret comes to eat from the pond, I won't lose a major investment.  I much prefer Frank's natural style of ponds. 

The technical glitches were resolved.  I was able to reach Frank and he got the water flowing again!  It reminds me how wonderful it is to have a pond.

If you are considering a pond, I'd say go for it!  I highly recommend Frank.  Check out his website for Paradise Now Ponds, then give him a call. 

Weeds!

I turned my back on my garden for just a little while!  I got distracted with the new catalog from Stampin' Up!  I've been planning and wishing and organizing and yes, ordering.  I've also been posting on my Stampin' Up! Demonstrator Blog.  I also went down to my daughter's to help her for a few days.  I have clipped off a few spent roses, but not much else for a week or so.  The weeds noticed my neglect and moved in.

A friend just posted on Facebook that she loves weeding.  She says she reaps spiritual lessons as she removes the sinister invaders.  I don't think I benefit spiritually from pulling weeds.  I may even lose a few spiritual points for the evil thoughts I have toward this part of God's creation. 

Today I worked around the front entry.  I don't know the name of this weed.  I don't want to become any more familiar with it than I already am.  We are not friends!  This weed is sneaky!  Like a wolf in sheep's clothing, it grows among the ground cover, keeping low and trying to blend in.  There's no springing up like a dandelion with its bright yellow flower.  I do marvel at this weed's skill at self preservation and propagation.This weed has tiny little flowers with seeds to lure its accomplices, the ants, which like to carry the seeds home for a snack, dropping a few seeds along the way. 

 If I'm correct, the flowers are kind of brittle, breaking off and spreading the seeds as I walk across the yard.  And as I'm pulling out the plants, they are trying to leave seeds behind to plant the next generation.

So I try to be a little smarter than this weed.  I try not to walk on it any more than I have to.  It grows and spreads outward from the central stem, so I try to find that center, and use my trusty weeding tool to get all the roots.  I gently pull it up and get it into the bucket without shaking or disturbing the plant anymore than I have to.  If I get a clump of dirt with the roots, I don't shake it off.  I hold the plant still and gently tease the dirt away from the roots.  The only thing good about this weed is that since it spreads wide, the coverage looks worse than it really is.  I can clear an area faster than with other weeds.   I may be smarter than this weed, but it's got me outnumbered!  It will take more work to get it under control again!