Hummingbirds are on their way to north Texas

In north Texas, put up Hummingbird feeders in mid-March, and keep the nectar fresh (4 to 1 blend of clear water & sugar), especially in hot weather.

Also, as Hummingbird season approaches, remember these facts:

• The color red is not the only Hummingbird attractant. They are attracted to any bright color, except green. (this helps them find flowers in the wild)
• Several recent studies have proven that red food coloring in nectar can cause genetic damage in Hummingbirds.
• These days, almost all nectar feeders are brightly-colored; making coloring the nectar unnecessary. (if yours isn't, just tie a brightly-colored ribbon to it) 

 

Barn Owls

Throughout the year, most north Texas homeowners are visited by mice and rats. I've written before that owls are easily the best antidote. However, if the rodent has recently eaten a poison, and an owl eats the rodent in the 3 to 8+ hours before it dies, the owl will probably die too.

When you see mice or rats, the impulse is to visit your local hardware store or big-box store and get some commercially-available poison (they’re all pretty much the same).  But what none of them tell you on the label is that most of these dangerous poisons will kill owls, hawks and pets and other non-target wildlife too. Maybe even children.

These common poisons are called “second generation anticoagulant rodenticides”. They go under names like Hot Shot, d-Con, Generation, Talon, Spectrum and Havoc. The E.P.A. has declared them too dangerous for public use, and ordered them off the market. But stores are selling off their huge, existing stocks. Some manufacturers are even defying the E.P.A. order and continuing to make it (and making big profits).

 There are alternative rodent devices that are totally efficient, but far less dangerous to non-target wildlife, pets and youngsters. A quick internet search easily discloses them. These, coupled with common-sense practices, effectively reduce mouse and rat populations ONLY.  Practices include putting tight lids on trashcans, and not leaving pet’s food outside at night.

 Of course, the best rodenticide by far is owls (helped by coyotes and foxes and bobcats and hawks). Killing off the non-target wildlife, along with the rodents, means that when the prolific rodents repopulate, you’ll be battling them without natural, wild allies.

 

It's never the wrong time to mulch your plants. Even now!

My favorite mulch;  free leaves

   We’re approaching the season of dry, relentless Texas heat, so it’s an especially good time to mulch your landscape plants. Actually I recommend that new plants not be planted at all after the start of May, unless you apply a healthy layer of mulch to the entire root zone.

Mulching your plants is a method that’s as natural as you can get. For as long as shrubs and trees have grown on this earth, their leaves have fallen to the ground yearly and formed a natural protective layer of mulch.  As the leaves decompose, they become extremely fertile, water-retentive organic matter to naturally augment and enrich our soil.

       I’ve had easily the best results with organic mulches. These are mulches derived from natural materials (usually plants) that were once alive. Over time, organic mulches will decompose and become part of the soil. Inorganic ones won't. Decomposition adds “humus” to our soil, helping it retain water and adding nutrients. This means, however, that organic mulches need to be replenished every few years. 

There are several types of organic mulches; they’re ground to various sizes, and they have a variety of names. Often, city landfill’s (like Denton’s) sell them.

 
Shredded leaves. When dead leaves are shredded they're often used as a mulch; they decompose quickly and greatly improve the soil. I use them exclusively on my own yard. You’ll never see shredded leaf mulch advertised or sold because it’s abundant and totally free.  I just mulched up the leaves on my lawn, so I won't have to fertilize this spring. These ground-up leaves contain a lot of carbon and other nutrients, so it's a shameful waste just to bag them up and discard them.

Bark. Bark mulches are made from the by-products of logs. Most common are shredded bark and bark chunks. Bark mulches resist compaction, will not blow away easily, are very attractive, and are readily available. Pine bark tends to float away, but bark mulch made from native trees is highly prized.

Wood chips. Wood chips are made from ground-up trees and shrubs. They stay in place, and weather to an attractive gray color. The process is the ultimate in recycling since mulch is made from trimmings and old lumber that you and your neighbors throw out. Several sizes are available. Colors are available too – but I avoid using them since they look unnatural and are easily messed up. Most mulches have been properly aged or composted (self-heated) to kill unwanted seeds or diseases.

Cedar chips. These are a popular kind of wood chip, but I steer people away from them. Thed mulch may smell nice temporarily, but the harvesting of the cedar trees is often done at the expense of dwindling wildlife habitat.

Sawdust. Sawdust makes a poor mulch for most situations since weed seeds easily sprout in it. It also tends to cake, making it harder for water to soak into the ground – a big disadvantage in our climate. It also robs nitrogen from the soil as it decomposes, so more fertilizer may be needed. However, a little bit, mixed in with another kind of mulch, is okay.

Straw. Straw makes a good mulch for gardens. It is inexpensive, suppresses weeds, conserves moisture, and insulates well. On the other hand, it is not very attractive, may contain crop seeds, and is extremely flammable. Some may even contain growth-retarding chemicals. It’s important to use "straw" rather than "hay," since hay contains many viable weed seeds. 

Pine needles. Pine needles are attractive, decompose slowly, resist compaction, and are easy to work with. However, they are notorious for washing away in a rainstorm. They are often available commercially or are free if you have pine trees on your property.

 For newly-planted trees and shrubs, spread mulch evenly underneath the plant, about 3 inches deep. For trees and shrubs that have been in place a long time, I’d recommend a 2 inch layer of mulch on the root zone. For trees and shrubs within a lawn, I’d strongly suggest reshaping the lawn if you can. (Lawns and trees have very different water needs.)  Otherwise, mulch a wide ring (extending from 3 to 6 feet out from the trunk) around each tree (the "root zone"). Be careful not to pile mulch up against tree trunks.  Don't let mulch build up to depths greater than about 4 inches.

For areas of flowers or ground cover, mulch should be applied up to 2 inches deep (after settling), but should not come in contact with any plant stems, leaves or branches. Any unwanted plants that grow through the mulch layer can easily be pulled out by hand.

 When is the best time to put down mulch?  There’s no season or time when it shouldn’t be done, so the very best time is to do it today! Especially if there's warmer weather coming.

 

 

How to frustrate large "bully birds" taking over your feeder

Most large “bully” birds, such as Crows and Grackles, can be discouraged by using a weight-sensitive feeder.  (We use two at our house.) Some “squirrel-resistant” birdfeeders can adjust. So when anything heavier than a few ounces sits in front of a seed port, the port closes. (Most “good” birds weigh less than 2 ounces.) Often, the feeder’s “tipping point” can be adjusted. If, for instance, you like Blue Jays – which weigh about 5 or 6 ounces, but don’t want Grackles, which are about 8 ounces you can set the tipping point at 7 oz. to exclude one species but not the other.

White-wing Doves

Another tip: Large birds (White-wing Doves come to mind) can be discouraged with a tube-type feeder. The perches should be no longer than 2 inches [1.5 inches is better]. That's because bigger birds can't sit on the small perch - they fall off and eventually give up!

 

“Really…how does a bag of chemicals know the difference?”     Be very, very wary of claims of certain chemical/fertilizers that say they “kill weeds, but not your grass”. Bulls**t!  The problem is that there’s absolutely no universal definition of a “weed”, unlike a “tree”, ”shrub” or “flower”. In plain language, absolutely nobody can tell you definitively what a "weed" is.  Certainly not a bag of fertilizer.

   A weed could actually be any plant that’s growing where you don’t want it to grow…such as a rose growing in your driveway. Each of us knows what a "weed" is to us, but That's probably different from you neighbor's definition. In my Landscape Architecture work, I’ve always wondered how a chemical can tell the difference between what you want and don’t want.

 

 

Attracting birds to your north Texas backyard

Father Cardinal & juvenile

Mother Bluebird & juvenile

WE’RE COMING INTO NESTING SEASON;
ATTRACT YOUR
FAIR SHARE

1. Put out short pieces of fur, string, and yarn. The majority of birds in north Texas build woven nests (Cardinals, Wrens, Mockingbirds, Robins, and others). Short pieces of material can be highly prized at building time.  Keep the pieces shorter than three inches so they’re manageable. Fur combed from a pet dog works great! I put it out in an old suet basket so it won’t blow away, and the birds pick out what they need.

2.  Put up bird houses:   All birds need places to raise their young – a place that’s safe and somewhat dry. This used to be done by nature with old tree stumps, natural piles of brush and native grasses. But with ever-increasing habitat-loss, nesting has become a major problem for birds. We humans can help (and attract them to our yard) simply by providing safe places to nest.

3. Don't be quick to mow meadows.  Many birds like to nest in tall vegetation. We keep much of our own yard unmowed and natural all summer long, mowing only the few areas that we actually need to be short. This means that many kinds of birds can nest in peace.

4. Delay trimming hedges and shrubs.   Lots of our local species choose shrubs for a place to nest. Most notably, Cardinals. If you see a bird building a nest in one of your shrubs, you've got a great excuse to avoid this bit of yard work for at least the next month or two.

5. Leave, or build, brushpiles.  Birds love to build nests in tangled piles of brush, so make one! A “brushpile” doesn’t need precise dimensions; use old tree branches and limbs, haphazardly piled so there are lots of nooks and crannies inside. Try to keep out the small stuff like leaves and grass clippings.

6. Don’t put poison on bird’s food. Steer clear of artificial pesticides as much as possible. The vast majority of bird-mothers only feed their young insects, which they can digest. But if all the insects in your yard have been killed, or are dieing, birds quickly choose to nest elsewhere.

7. Put out eggshells for birds. Producing eggs takes a lot out of female birds! Eggshells help replace the calcium lost during egg production and laying. Save your eggshells, dry them out in the oven (10 minutes at about 300 degrees), crumble them into small pieces, and just spread them on the ground or in an old plate. Start saving them now!

8. If you find a nest -- stay away. If you happen upon a nest, don't linger. We human beings leave scent trails wherever we go, and these scent trails can lead to an easy meal for a hungry raccoon, opossum, coyote, or other predator. (They follow scent trails)  For the birds' sake, don't advertise a nest's location by visiting it repeatedly.
 

9. Provide water for bathing and drinking. It’s important to provide water all year long. Your birdbath may be the first place an adult bird takes its offspring. Lots of family-style bathing takes place at birdbaths, and young birds can be dependent on the only water source they know; especially when they’ve just left the nest. So keep your bath filled and clean. Make sure the average water depth is less than two inches. Most birds are actually afraid of deep water.

 

 

 

 

Start collecting natural nest material NOW

Spring is when most birds build nests and lay eggs. Be ready! If given a choice, birds choose to build nests with naturally found materials. They love tall, native grasses. Some good ones for here are Bluestem, Indiangrass, Muhly and Gramma. 

The materials that birds use for nest-building can be almost anything that’s somewhat small, stringy and lightweight. Also, many nests are cemented together with mud, so it’s good to have water and/or mud nearby. (It doesn’t have to be very conspicuous, or even in your own yard – birds will find it!)  A bird might make over a thousand trips with beaks-full of mud, twigs, grasses, leaves or whatever, at the start of nesting season.

       Drier lint looks great for nesting material, but don't use it. Due to the ingredients in almost all detergents and fabric softeners, it irritates newborn birds greatly.

One of the most used natural materials is cotton. We use balls of natural cotton strands and yarn tails; even bits of thread. What could be more natural in former cotton country than cotton?!

    Another natural material birds love is fur. In nature, tufts of it are found all over! When we comb our dogs we’ll save the fur. Then we put it in something like an old wire suet basket, hanging it from a branch. We’ll see all kinds of birds pull out strands of fur to take to their nearby nests. Later, if we’re lucky enough spot a nest, we’ll carefully inspect it and find several tiny eggs nestled in our pets’ fur. Neat!

 

 

There’s actually no such thing as a seagull     The general public often refers to any and every white bird in a flock as a “seagull”, whether on the beach, near a landfill, in a parking lot or wherever. Actually, gulls are in the Laridae family, and there are 102 different kinds of them. Not a single one is named a “seagull”. The proximity of seas is actually irrelevant to most of them. However, the word “seagull” will never disappear since it’s a culturally embedded label.

 

 

 

Buying landscape plants that keep maintenance low

You probably want to put plants in your yard that keep down the need for a lot of maintenance. So go armed with knowledge when you shop!  Here are a few tips on buying north Texas plants that I’ve learned (often the hard way) in my 25+ years as a licensed Landscape Architect; now a Landscape Architect Emeritus.

 Stick to plants native to north Texas. If it’s native, it’s used to our poor soil and our hot, dry weather. It doesn’t need soil additives, much extra water etc.  I‘d also recommend asking about a specific plant’s heritage before you buy. Was it grown around here, or in a greenhouse in some other state? Selecting native plants will assure you the chances are good they’ll survive our summer without a lot of extra maintenance, and still look good.

 

Avoid plants already in bloom. A common, very costly mistake is to be enticed by pretty flowers in bloom at the nursery. What you really want is not the plants that are blooming at the store, but plants that will bloom in your yard in a day or two. A plant that’s flowering is at its peak, and is beginning its descent. So look for buds that are about to unfurl, instead of open flowers that will probably wither in a few days.

 

Know the plant’s needs. This relates to my recommendation to buy native plants. Steer clear of showy, exotic plants that’ll need a lot of water and a lot of fertilizer and special soil additives. That stuff isn’t cheap!  Landscape plants that’ll make it through a year in Texas won’t demand a lot of water, and don’t need much soil “improvement” such as fertilizer and topsoil. 

Of course, no plant needs absolutely zero maintenance, but we all should try to keep it to a minimum.

 
Look for plentiful buds. Buds are flowers-to-be, so look for lots of  them; as well as the overall vigor of a plant - a sign it'll produce even more buds. Plants are not “impulse items” like candy bars near the checkout at grocery stores. Since those showy flowers on plants being sold may be gone by planting time, it’s abundant buds that you really want. Lots of buds will mean lots of flowers in the future.
 

Don’t be lured by invasive plants. Some plants sound perfect - until you plant them. Invasives are the exact opposite of plants that die easily – they grow and reproduce everywhere, in another flower bed and even in your neighbor’s yard. They’ll quickly engulf, rob nutrients from, and kill other plants. (Think kudzu vine!). In the Denton area, some invasive plants I’d stay far away from are Japanese honeysuckle, ligustrum, English ivy, trumpet vine and bamboo.

Invasive plants like these usually crowd out, and will steal nutrients from, your other plants.

 

Check out the roots. If you can, check out the plant’s roots. That’s how the plant obtains nutrients for blooming and good, continuing health. Roots should be fibrous and white, and not “rootbound”. That’s when the roots nearly fill up the pot, perhaps circling it – and the soil (along with its nutrients) is almost nonexistent. (If you're buying mail-order, all you can depend on is the seller's reputation)

 

Keep these guidelines in mind, and your yard will be a place you can look at and enjoy. Not a place where you spray, cultivate, water and laboriously baby your plants throughout a typical north Texas summer.

 

 

 

Seeing things through birds' eyes is very different

 It certainly looks a lot different. Besides seeing all the colors of the rainbow, scientists tell us that many birds can see into the ultra-violet spectrum, too. (as a kid I learned that the rainbow is “Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet”.  So birds can see what’s beyond violet.)
That's lots more than colors of a rainbow.

Painted Bunting (female)

Birdwatchers of all abilities often have difficulty telling male birds apart from females of the same species. However, research using ultraviolet light shows that males and females frequently have radically different markings that we can’t see. An example from north Texas is the Painted Bunting. The female Painted Bunting is very drab-looking to most mammals (potential predators);  unlike the bright red, blue and green male. (In many bird species females are similarly drab).  This drabness helps them stay hidden while on the nest - important to survival of the species.

Additionally, ultraviolet vision can also help birds in finding food. Research with Kestrels has shown that they can see trails of rodent urine; known to reflect ultraviolet light.

For years, many birdwatchers have put various objects including decals and feathers on windows to help prevent bird collisions. Now that we know about birds’ ability to see ultraviolet light, removable stickers have been created that are almost invisible to humans, but reflect ultraviolet light that birds can see, warning them.

 The Migratory Tourist   The Barn Swallow is on its way back to north Texas – a few may even be here as you read this!  It’s the only bird found here that’s been seen in every single South American country. The bulk of them spend the winter in an area centered roughly on Bolivia and Paraguay.  But this cousin of the Purple Martin (also a species of swallow) has spent winters as far north as Costa Rica, and as far south as Tierra del Fuego.