Never had a garden before!

A couple of these on the flower beds are ideal for water Verve Lei Terracotta Grow pot Saucer (Dia)24cm

 

Just because the feeding stations have 4 plus hooks does not mean you have to use them all. If you only want to use the seed tray for general birds look at what they contain as above. A lot of cheap mixes have loads of corn or millet in them which pigeons etc will eat but not small birds. I buy my feed loose from a local garden centre, they provide bags and you take as much or little as you want.
There are different feeders for different types of seed, peanuts, fat balls, sunflower hearts, nigella seed, very expensive for goldfinches or flat trays for mixed seed. You choose what you want. If cost governs what you use just put seed out when you can afford it. There is no hard and fast rule. I never feed my birds during the summer but spoil them rotten during the winter.

 

This is brilliant, useful advice, thank you so much. I don't see that many birds around here, so how do they 'know' to come to the garden once the feeder is up, can they smell the seeds? Where do you get the seed from? Is there a reasonably priced place online? How much money does it cost per month, say, to get seed? I've got the feeder coming today, will take pix of it. The stand came with 2 trays, usefully, so I will use one or both (?) for water. It would make me so happy to have birds visit, I need to give them my address! ;-)

 

I live nowhere near a garden centre, where can I get this stuff online? If you don't feed them during summer, how do they know to come to your garden?

 

This is interesting - I have 2 of these trays, they came with the stand - so I should put one on there and one on the ground?

 

We get our seed from Happy Beaks, their no waste wild ord mix. I get my coconuts from RSPB

 

I have a possibly stupid question - I have bought bird seed from Sainsburys, 2 kinds. General wild bird seed (cheap) and sunflower hearts (not cheap). Do you mix them together? And if so, what ratio, half each? Or less hearts to make it last longer?

 

I find the Sunflower Hearts are best in a feeder by themselves. Inevitably the birds will drop some on the ground but often the Finches and Tits pick them out and take them to a suitable "perch" to eat them.
As said before, Garden Wildlife and Haiths are both available online.
A Wild Bird seed can be a bit like buying compost these days - hit an miss !!
Really, you are going to have to experiment over time and work out what suits you, the birds and your pocket.
Hopefully, more than enough info on here for you to be going on with so best of luck for the future

 

Thought I would post the state of the garden as it stands, obv grass not cut yet (gardener said to water it for a month before mowing). And the new feeder! It's a bit close to the ground? But I can't do a lot about it.

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You probably already know but the birds will throw the seeds out all over the ground. Unless you have brought a no grow type of bird seed some seeds will germinate in your lovely new lawn.

 

Your grass looks so thick and green @LizT, lovely!

If you stick to just feeding sunflower hearts you won't have the problem of the seed growing.

 

There is no need to worry about birds finding your feeders when you begin filling them. It may take a couple of weeks before they arrive in any numbers but they will come.
Bird feeders are terrible time wasters! Most of us could "waste" many hours simply sitting watching them.

 

No birds have arrived yet, so that strikes me as a nice problem to have! I just bought your basic wild seed from Sainsburys tbh.

 

It's growing really well but I don't think it has completely rooted into the soil beneath it yet. It's only been 3 weeks since it was laid down (on the compost etc). I've started with a half and half mix of hearts and normal seed. I guess if I get no birds in a week I should switch to hearts only? This sounds MAD but how do the birds know to come? There aren't a lot around here, it seems to me. There are some trees over yonder, a few gardens away, but I just don't see or hear a lot. How do I give birds my address? LOL

 

This is what I hope for!! I should leave it for a couple weeks and if nothing happens, use sunflower hearts only? I was saying this earlier; how do the birds find me? Haha!