Winter garden is still atwitter

While we snuggle up indoors, spare a thought for all the garden creatures that also need shelter from the cold and food to give them energy.

Even when nothing appears to be going on in the garden, it is full of wildlife, with birds, bugs, and creepy crawlies.

For the Birds

Providing food and water for birds not only helps them to survive, their presence brings a winter garden to life.

Advice from Marlaen Straathof, of Kirchhoffs Seeds, which supplies feeders, bird feed products, nesting logs and wild bird seed, is to put out a variety of food that caters for seed and nectar eaters as well as those that need fruit and suet.

Her tip for seed eaters is to provide a mix that includes sunflower seeds as well as smaller grains.

“Seed feeders with a flat bottom and a narrow perch or roof overhang makes it difficult for pigeons to gobble up all the food.”

A feeder with a “silo” for the seed protects the seed from rainwater and bird droppings, while seed bells or blocks on a rope allows smaller birds to perch on the bell while pecking off the seeds.

Suet helps birds to maintain their energy levels and keep them warm during the frosty nights. Suet slabs or balls can be hung from a tree or put into a suet feeder which allows the birds to feed more easily.

Another option is Wild Bird Pudding that is a soft, non-sticky meal relished by birds made from seeds, peanut-butter, and vegetable oil.

A nectar feeder bridges the gap in winter when there is little in flower. Hang the nectar bottle from a branch at an angle to provide constant supply of nectar. Use a second bottle filled with water if there isn’t a birdbath or other water source.

Nectar needs to be as fresh as possible, explains Marlaen and she recommends using a powder that is mixed with water. “Do not add any red dye, including that found in food colouring because it is potentially toxic to birds.”

For fruit eaters push chunks of apple and pawpaw onto spikes in the feeder to keep it in place. Only put out as much fruit as birds will eat in a day or two because fruit spoils easily.

Shelter for the bugs

One of the routine activities in winter is to tidy up, cut back and rake up dead leaves. Leaving the plants as they are and only cleaning up in spring, will supply winter hiding places for many beneficial insects while birds and even small mammals feed off the seed heads.

Marlaen stacks garden waste that is too bulky for the compost heap underneath shrubs and trees as a form of mulch and weed suppressant.

“As its breaks down slowly, it encourages micro-organisms in areas where the soil is usually compacted or undernourished, and it beats using petrol to take the waste to the garden refuse site.”

Last year, Kirchhoffs introduced a ready-made bug hotel that can be filled with a range of materials to caters for many different types of bugs.

It can be filled with rolled up cardboard tubes for safe breeding spaces, twigs, sticks, leaves, dried grass, hollow bamboo and even some rotting wood. A good project to keep the kids entertained.

Be kind to spiders

Getting rids of spider webs in evergreen creepers or clumps of plants eliminates an important ally in the natural control of many insects, such as moths and caterpillars, gnats, flies, mosquitoes, and ants.

Most of the spiders we find in the garden are not considered dangerous although some do have a painful bite!

Spiders are particularly vulnerable to pesticides that are used to control their “prey”, even organic pesticides that contain oil or natural pyrethrin’s can harm smaller spiders on contact.

However, they are not affected by biological caterpillar insecticides or fungicides unless stated in the leaflet. Larger spiders should not be affected by the Margaret Roberts Organic Insecticide, as long as the dose is for small bodied insects like aphids.

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