This Blog is for the Birds

They're nice to look at, sing wonderfully and eat insects. 

No, we're not talking about the Dixie Chicks on a fad diet.

It's the gardener's best friends, a backyard filled with birds.

No, not Bill and Venus. Although they are accomplished gardeners/writers, the Birds, publishers of the Sacramento Vegetable Gardening blog, limit their insect consumption to whatever is inhabiting their harvested fruit. Or drink.

We're talking about the family inhabited by warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrates, characterized by feathers and forelimbs modified as wings.

Yes, real birds will nibble on your cherries and grapes (that's why there's bird netting), but birds can help control the bad bug population in your garden, especially tomato hornworms, cabbage loopers and redhumped caterpillars.

Birds also control the spread of weeds by eating the seeds of unwanted plants; bigger birds, such as owls and hawks, will swoop down and devour rodents.

    

Birds require little in return from you for their labors: trees and shrubs for shelter, perhaps some berry-filled plants (cotoneaster, pyracantha, toyon and more) and fresh water.

    Birds aren't too particular about their watering sites. All they are looking for is a shallow pan, about two to three feet wide and no more than three inches deep, with sloping sides so they can ease their way in, placed in an area away from fence tops and foliage where they can keep an eye out for their main predator, Mr. Kitty.

    A birdbath can be as elegant as a thousand dollar, terracotta fountain with a waterfall; or, as simple as an old metal garbage can lid placed on the ground.

    Here are some tips for keeping the thirsty birds happy:

• Keep the birdbath water fresh and filled during hot weather. On freezing mornings, adding hot water can help break up the thin sheet of ice.

• Clean out birdbaths with a powerful jet of water from the hose; or, use a plastic scouring pad.

• Do not add chemicals, such as bleach, to control algae. Do not add antifreeze to keep ice from forming. If you must use bleach to clean an algae-filled birdbath, cover it with screening for a few hours to keep the birds away. Empty and rinse the birdbath after that and refill with fresh water.

• Birds are attracted by the sound of gently moving water. A simple drip irrigation mini-sprinkler installed adjacent to the birdbath will be a popular addition. Hanging a dripping bucket in a tree above a bird bath can attract birds, too.

• An exposed rock placed in the middle of birdbaths with straight edges give birds a place to land and check things out.

• If the only area you can place a birdbath is near dense shrubbery, it is important to put the bath on a pedestal for their protection.

• Situate birdbaths in areas where you can enjoy them, near a faucet for easy cleaning and filling.

• Then, sit back and enjoy the show!

Birds, Bees and Beneficials

One of my favorite blogs is Bill Bird's "Sacramento Vegetable Gardening". Bill is a jazzman with words. His blogs have a rhythm comparable to a Gene Krupa drum solo.

In one recent post, Bill waxed rhapsodic about a certain rose in his yard, Our Lady of Guadalupe.

      As I was reading this post about the trials and tribulations of growing this rose (and actually, the blog is more of a love letter to his wife, Venus), I was wondering how he was going to bring it back around to, if you will excuse me for being a stickler, "Sacramento Vegetable Gardening". 

     Bill did not disappoint. He tied into a neat little package at the end, exclaiming: "Our Lady of Guadalupe attracts a number of beneficial insects to the garden, including bees..."

     This is a subject we have tackled on these pages, as well: the benefits of having a wide variety of beneficial insect attracting plants in your yard to help you do battle against the bad bugs.  And, it's a topic covered more in depth at farmerfred.com.

    But Bill's apian accolade got me wondering: what other beneficial insects are attracted to roses? And, are there any beneficials that use roses for more than a source of food (housing, for example)? For that answer, the "go-to" guy has to be Baldo Villegas, an entomologist for the state of California, past president of the Sacramento Rose Society and Sierra Foothills Rose Society, as well as being a consulting rosarian.

     "Roses produce a lot of nectar, some more than others," explains Baldo. "Single-petaled roses are best for seeing what attracts insects both good and bad. Some of the best beneficials that I see are syrphid flies, tachinid flies, as well as numerous wasps, both parasitic and predatory. Among the parasitic wasps are the braconid and ichneumonid wasps and predatory wasps that are mainly those in the family Sphecidae. Then there are a lot of different types of bees such as honey bees, andrenids, halictids, megachilids (aka leafcutting bees), and anthophorids (including small carpenter bees). The only ones that use roses for housing and for prey gathering are two predatory wasps in the family Sphecidae. One of these wasps preys on aphids and the other one on flies."

For pictures and more information about these garden good guys, visit the UC Davis IPM Online Natural Enemies Gallery.