The Start of the Bird Garden

So I have decided to turn the area that was once the old Koi pond into "The Bird Garden" Only seems appropriate since I used to keep all the bird feeders around the fire pit which is now the New Koi Pond.....As they say "Tit for Tat" or well something like that!.....This Mocking bird sits greeting me as I walk through the garden gate....on the Fortuniana Rose bush...just starting to burst into blooms....With the pond up and running and the fish transferred...it was time to do some clean up around the place! I had procrastinated long enough. With clippers in hand I spent an entire day cutting all my roses back, pulling the passion Vine out of the Crape Myrtles and giving the Honeysuckle over the  chicken coops a heck of a hair cut! Shew.....the patio looks much better now. I placed some of the Xtra Cannas from the old pond into a galvanized tub on the patio with some other potted plants...it's 25 gallons, so I placed a small pump and filter to circulate the water...and now I can definitely see that we will need a few African Cichlids in that mini pond :) ssshhhh our little secret .......At the moment it's the home to the DH's 3 crawdads we found in the pond skimmer...Oh Well .....now back to the bird garden.....

So this is the spot just after the pond liner came out....I had enough dirt from the new pond dig and left over concrete from the demolition on the back porch to almost fill it up...I left the last 4-6 inches for peat and pine fines....my plan is for a bed of Caladiums here.....amongst the bird feeders....

This is the bones I'm starting with....The old frame from a garden swing upcycled to be a bird feeder holder, a few bird feeders from around the yard and a great sturdy concrete birdbath, along with a few bishop hooks....At this time I have some potted up African Iris around the border, but they are too big...I think I'll go with some Mondo grass instead...but after that first day...I felt like I was on my way...and no money out of pocket, just some things moved around...just like re-arranging the furniture :)

I'm a frugal gardener you know....so no stopping at the big box store and buying a few new bird feeders for me....Oh No...I would hit the Goodwill and thrift stores and find me some treasures! And yes I did! Can you say 

"SCORE"  

I will Make my bird feeders...

Okay....so you probably already figured that the Koi plates are my fav's...I still haven't figured where they will be incorporated...but they will...oh they most definitely will..... These sweet other finds, will soon be the beginnings of my bird garden.

 I  merged the Pink Vase and the white plate to make my first feeder....Okay...so drilling holes in glass....NOT so easy....don't try this one at home...Lucky for me I have access to a dental drill at work...and it was STILL a long and tedious project....I have to get some wire to hang it still...

 The next was the marriage of the matching Pink Mosaic Vase and Plate...(By the way)...bought a day apart and at two different thrift stores! They are mounted together on a metal Candle holder with mimicking shape.....How lucky am I.....Actually I don't rely on luck...I ask and God always seems to provide me with just what I need.....And it matched my Pink vase perfectly too...Do you see a theme here? I think the Azaleas in the yard have me inspired this month...I'm so easily swayed...Can't you just see a bed of Pink and White Caladiums around the foot of that feeder???

 Did I mention.....I do love me some azaleas!

And just a short time after...we had our very first visitors! 

 It sure has a ways to go.....but in just a few short days it is coming alive with birds and squirrels! A little paint on that swing frame, and a bed of caladiums and we shall have a little bird Haven! Native Blackberries grow entwined with the rosebush behind it and I plan on putting in a blueberry bush also....along with the neighboring Wax Myrtles and Mulberries....there should be plenty of food to keep the birds hanging around throughout the year...

Don't forget to spread some seed!  janine

I'll leave you with a quote from genesis:

 And God said, "See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food"; and it was so. Then God saw everything that he had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day. (Genesis 1:29-31)