The birds and the bees

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

bird watering bowlNo, I am not going to give you a lesson in you know what. This is about keeping our feathered and buzzy friends hydrated and cool.

The hot, dry days of summer can be as hard on the birds that live in and around your garden as they are on your plants. A source of water in your garden – something as simple as an upside-down trash can lid with some rocks in it to provide perching spots and keep it from blowing away – helps birds (and pollinators) thrive.

If you want the bird bath/bird and pollinator water supply to be a little more elaborate and decorative use a large terracotta dish often put beneath a flowerpot or some other shallow bowl that fits your garden design.

Be sure to keep it full and clean it out a few times a week and ensure that the water is always as fresh as possible.

Resident birds are not just fun to watch and listen to; they also help control many of the insects that may be chewing on your tasty organic plants about now. Talk about a win-win proposition! (You may need to net berry crops and also some others to keep them for yourself, but that's a small price to pay for the birds' help the rest of the year.)

© 2014