A Bird-Safe Backyard

2011

As much as I've loved the Wall O' Vines on the back porch, it's become a danger to neighborhood wildlife.  Every Spring at least two families of birds move into the trellis and raise a batch of little birdlets:  usually house finches, sometimes Mockingbirds, this year a mama Dove and a single baby.

The problem is that I have three dogs, once of whom fancies himself quite the Bird Dog, and has taught one of his sisters his craft.  Last year Raven caught a young Mockingbird during flight training; this year - I believe, I'm not actually sure - Daisy got the baby dove.  They're good dogs, but they're still predators, and the trellis is no longer a safe place for birds to roost.

So today, down it came.  Last Wednesday I clipped the Sweet Autumn Clematis off at the ground, and let the top growth wither for a few days so that it would be easier to remove from the trellis.

2010

This morning I got to work:  I chopped up the dead vines, yanked them down, and stuffed the whole bundle into the compost bin.

The trellis itself was actually two sections of an old metal standing screen that I had removed from its frame and mounted between two wooden rails at the top and bottom, all of which I painted black.

I un-bolted the screen panels from the wooden rails, then removed the top rail from the house, and re-mounted it about three feet lower than it had been.  I scrubbed the trim on the house and the porch post clean - under the vines, they get covered with all manner of mildew, bird poop, and bird dander.  I primed the wooden rails and painted them to match the trim on the house.


The last step was to stretch a section of wire fencing between the wooden rails, to form a new trellis for the Clematis to grow up onto.  I lashed it in place with hemp twine - not the most long-lasting method, but I was out of baling wire AND heavy duty staples;  I also think that if I end up really loving this new, shorter trellis, that I may end up putting wooden posts in between the rails, for a proper porch railing type of thing.

June 2, 2012

It doesn't look spectacular at the moment, no.  But once it's covered with vines, and with little white star-shaped flowers in the Fall, it'll be quite lovely, I think, and still provide privacy from the neighbors for us humans, without endangering birdies.  Bonus:  this also lets WAY more light into the living room.

And this picture also serves as a "before picture for the back porch, as well as an "after" for the trellis project.  Further plans for the back porch include:

• hanging baskets
• fixing up and repairing an old wind chime, and hanging it back up
• sprucing up the wicker chairs, and making cushions for them
• plants in the empty pots that are scattered around the porch
• new lighting
• and, eventually, the pergola/arbor I keep talking about building over the patio. 

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Surprise Flowers!

I love gardening moments like this, especially after the bad gardening year it's been.  I went camping over the past weekend, and came back to find the 'Romantika' Clematis in the backyard, which partly covers the temporary fencing in front of the bed I built last month behind the back porch, in full bloom:

<3

Planticular Update

Gardeny-Do's Done Last Weekend/This Week:

 1.  Planted a white, single-flowered rose in my front garden; part of a new design plan in that bed which I haven't discussed here just yet.  I will, as it slowly unfolds. :)

It's a great, healthy, strong plant.  It's hard to see in this pic, but it's COVERED in flower buds which have appeared just since I planted it.  I guess it's happy!

The sprinkler is a dog-digging deterrent!

2.  This is the American Beautyberry bush I planted in the backyard - the variety with the white berries, insetad of purple.  (Callicarpa americana var. lactea).  It's planted under a bedroom window, just off the patio.

The whole area looks pretty sad in the picture - but that's not barren dirt you see under the plant.  That's freshly-tilled soil mixed with fresh compost and new grass seed!  The spiky thing is a stand of Garlic Chives, one of the few plants from my old herb border that survived The Creeping Death Fungus of 2010. They're not all that excited about the drought.

 3.  This is the "shady corner" behind the back porch I keep talking about.  Another area that's not nearly as awful as it looks, LOL - my Clematis vines are shutting down for the year a bit eary, which they always do when it's been as hot and dry as it's been this year (which is hasn't, actually, since this year has been the worst drought and heatwave in Texas history, but I digress).

Tilled, composted, and mulched heavily, in preparation for the work I'll be doing in this corner next weekend.

4.   The Chasteberry Tree, two weeks after planting.  We had some droopy, yellow transplant shock for a few days there, but it's standing up proud now, and is already beginning to grow upward and produce new flowers.  YAY!

The "trellis" behind it - which is actually a headboard from Ikea! - is what I'm doing in the "shady corner" above:  it's hinged in the middle for flat-packing (bless Ikea), so I'm going to mount it on that fence corner and put another Clematis in there.  A Niobe, if I can find one locally next week.











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