The Sun

Discussion in 'Gardening Discussions' started by Mark B, Jan 16, 2007.

  1. Johnny

    Johnny Gardener

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    Neither did I until someone pointed it out, LOL :D Most of the seeds are gone now so need to get some more this morning. The remains of the last 4 pots of water are still solid under the bird table where I cleaned them out to put in fresh water! [​IMG]
     
  2. Mark B

    Mark B Gardener

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    Was out in the garden at the weekend and i saw and heard a woodpecker, Not sure which one but the back of its head was red and its body was green, I hear woodpeckers but rearly see them so that was quite cool.
     
  3. UsedtobeDendy

    UsedtobeDendy Gardener

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  4. chobart

    chobart Gardener

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    The strange thing about the Woodpeckers is that the Green on feeds on the ground and the 'Greater Spotted feeds off the peanut containers - therree are lots of both types round here possibly because of the trees and the sandy soil which yields millions of ants?
     
  5. shiney

    shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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    Hi everyone
    I've only just started reading this topic - very interesting.
    About feeding birds.
    I started feeding birds years ago and have learnt by my mistakes and by advice given. With regard to seed, our birds definitely prefer the mixtures that include a lot of black sunflower seeds but you have to be prepared to clear up the sunflower husks afterwards. For some reason, which I can't understand, they prefer removing the sunflower hearts from the husks rather than having me provide just the hearts for them!
    I also stopped using the srting bags for nuts because a bird got caught in it. I now have a wire feeder for nuts.
    I make my own fat balls from all the fat strained from our cooking - healthier for us and a good use of the waste. I bought some little plastic moulds into which you insert an angled plastic hanger and then pour in the melted fat and mix it with a seed, nut and grain mixture that I bought from my seed supplier. I put this in to the fridge to set and then ease the fat ball out of the mold and it is ready to hang up on our feeder.
    After experimenting with bird baths etc we have found that our birds much prefer an old baking dish (about 18 inches x 12 inches) to drink from and bathe in. It is quite funny to see different birds queuing up to have a bath. Being a non-stick dish it is also very easy to clean out - I usually just hose it and occasionally scrub it or pressure hose.

    At this time of year our birds get through about 20kg of seed in six weeks.

    As we have all the feed hung up on a big feeder there are certain types of birds that can't get the seed but they do eat the seed that the others drop from the feeder. It is surprising how much they drop. We can't put seed on tables or the ground because of a problem with field rats in our area.

    Happy feeding.

    -----------------
    shiney
     
  6. Kandy

    Kandy Will be glad to see the sun again soon.....

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    This is a funny thread.It started off talking about the sun in the garden and has now got onto feeding the birds which we already have a thread going on the Wildlife section.We all seem to be mixing up the threads and I for one are guilty of that :D :D No disrespect to anyone on here talking about feeding the birds :D :D
     
  7. Johnny

    Johnny Gardener

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    I agree :D :D and my garden still hasn't got any sun yet and one very dreary little snowdrop that looks upset to be there. Just starting to get sun hitting the top of the shed about half an hour before it disappears for the night. I reckon end of this month the sun may even hit the tops of a few plants in the east bed. [​IMG]
     
  8. Johnny

    Johnny Gardener

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    Only one snowdrop flowered!! Lots of bulbs appeared but none opened so as a lot needed separating anyway I took the action to move them all away from the west fence were there is no sun or signs of the sun. The rest of the garden is still without the sun but it is starting to lower itself slowly to the eastern bed and maybe there'll be sun by the end of next month - he says hopefully.
     
  9. crowley

    crowley Gardener

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    If you have little sun in your garden maybe you should experiment with some mirrors in your garden to reflect the light, and also makes your garden look bigger??? crazy idea I know, but I saw somebody once who made it work for them!
     
  10. Johnny

    Johnny Gardener

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    I have been toying with the idea of one mirror somewhere in a border to reflect light.Another suggestion by a gardening friend is that the borders were the bulbs weren't flowering may need some serious fertiliser to get them going and enrich the soil.
     
  11. Fran

    Fran Gardener

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    Are you sure they are all snowdrops?. Whatever, moving them in the green should be fine. If they are producing leaves they will be feeding the bulb - perhaps add a little potash rich fertiliser.
     
  12. Johnny

    Johnny Gardener

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    Thanks Fran. No they are not all snowdrops but the position is so bad I thought I'd reposition all from that bed and use it for shade loving shrubs instead.
     
  13. Fran

    Fran Gardener

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    Well don't forget that snowdrops are a bulb of the deciduous woodland, like bluebells. Flowering in partial shade, before the canopy of leaves break.

    Good luck with them, and I look forward to hearing what the others are.
     
  14. Johnny

    Johnny Gardener

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    Sun finally reached one of my plants in the sunny bed yesterday [​IMG]

    The sun seems to be moving quite quickly up the garden now so maybe have most of the garden in the the sun for short periods by the end of this month or so.
     
  15. Mark B

    Mark B Gardener

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    Dendro, sorry for the delayed response, been busy.
    Once again you've come up trumps, The woodpecker is the green one. Saw it again over the weekend. We had glorious weather, Hope you guys had the same.
     
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