Garden Care Simplified: Different Birds and Terrace Garden Care

26.12.11

Different Birds and Terrace Garden Care

Visitors from Heaven

Having a garden full of plants is really enchanting and captivating but bringing energy through birds is also an very important aspect for any garden. We all know that every gardener does encourage birds to come and be regular visitors in the garden. Any garden would look silent and dull without the energy of birds in it. Birds are not only necessary to bring life to your garden but they also play an very important role in transferring seeds everywhere. This is very essential and important especially for fruit trees where they need to be pollinated by other plant.

Pigeons Have a Drink

Our Pet Alexandrine Parakeet

The bird bath is a favorite place for pigeons, mynas, sparrows and crows. Sometimes rare birds are also seen near our garden like the king fisher, eagle, falcon, hawk, black sparrow and of course the lovely group of parrots and parakeets that love to fly above the garden.

Enjoying the Dip

Welcoming birds and enjoying them having dip in the cool mornings is soothing and brings joy to anyone but maintaining your garden plants is another task which needs to be taken care of. I have lost many plants due to plucking and biting and sometimes have also got very angry with the birds. But nothing can be done. I have started to plant new saplings very carefully as the pigeons in winter are at their nesting phase and they try to get hand at any and every loose stem or leaf and any new plant that is planted is either plucked and thrown out or disappears from the pot! Having too much of anything is harmful and this is also with having too many birds over your garden fence and you need to have the balance regarding this.

The Crow on His Favorite Spot

Care of Garden Plants from Birds- First and foremost one must try to keep the bird bath and water feature or water fountain away from delicate plants. Try to keep it in a corner of your garden so that the whole garden is not disturbed with the birds. You can have the feeding tray also with water bath and pond on a side where tough plants are grown. Also do not keep very small pots as the birds may get hurt while flying over them. We also had roses and bougainvilleas which have been removed from the area around the bird bath as the birds may get hurt with the thorns of the plants.

If you have flowering plants like the Chinese rose which is very attractive to the pigeons for plucking and colourful petunias, you can cover them with metal covers used for covering cooked food. Mosquito nets can also be tied over the fruiting and flowering plants for protection against birds.

Another aspect which comes up with birds in your garden as frequent visitors is about hygiene and cleanliness. You must keep your garden clean and tidy as bird feaces and feathers along with bird dropping accumulating in your garden will not only be harmful to us but also to the other birds. I have lost many plants due to birds fingering and believe me once they decide about a plant they are so focused that the poor plant has no chance of living after the frequent plucking and pulling! Especially beautiful petunias have been plucked time and again and lost the race. This year I have not planted any petunias till now, trying to avoid this nesting phase of birds.

It is also very important to keep the water feature and bird bath clean to give fresh drinking water to birds. With time the bird bath becomes slimy and there is also green growth of algae and fungus. Small fishes and worms are good for your birds as they will get nutrition from them but not good for your health, so keep the bath away from your seating area in your garden.

It is considered very auspicious in feng shui to feed the birds and provide drinking water to them. In this manner you invite heaven luck which helps you in your life to get prosperity and success. To clear the past karma and improve present and future karma birds are an easy way to invite grace and good luck. In feng shui we place importance on the water element as water is considered money or wealth. Place water feature in the north or north west or west in your garden for best feng shui.