Designing our garden is just like the inside of our homes where we carefully select and lay out our living arrangements to best suit our needs, our gardens require the same attention if we are to attract natures best. It is worth remembering that when designing your garden, compare yourself to the wild life you wish to attract. For example would you be attracted to a home which omitted to provide a Kitchen, a Dining Room or a Bedroom, I doubt it!, you will agree they are the essential elements of the perfect home. Well if you are one of nature’s best like a Garden Bird, a butterfly, or a rabbit for example, you too would be selective in the environment you wish to live in, however being one of the foregoing, some things may be outside of your control, like the provision of native trees, shrubs and flowers which help in the pollination of its species. The provision of shrubs that provide berries as food source assist in the attraction of garden birds, unfortunately if you are a bird and these are not provided in the garden, you have little choice but to move to the next garden which does. Like you, the Garden Bird will not dwell or visit a garden where these essentials are missing, a well designed home or a well designed garden will encourage its inhabitants to visit and stay.
When designing your garden there are a number of factors to consider such as the orientation of your garden, soil type, drainage, existing structures, their heights and the shadows they cast and of course the size of your garden, Personal requirements like lawn size for your family, vegetable patches, fresh water supply and its source. If you have a preference for a particular range of garden birds or other inhabitants you wish to attract, then the compatibility of one species with another is very important. Installations like garden architectural features, seating area, fountains, require close consideration when choosing the correct location for Bird Feeders, Bird Baths, Birdhouses and of course bird nesting boxes. When you begin to learn more and more about their likes and dislikes of the garden bird you wish to attract, paying close attention to these essential requirements will ensure your favorite Garden Bird will feel as much living at home as you will.
We at the Cuckoos Gaden over the next year will attempt to assist you with a step by step guide to provide the perfect garden for you and you’re Garden Birds. For now, start by measuring the size of your garden back and front, take note of the environment you are in, Urban, suburban or rural, Draw a scaled plan of your garden on a A3 gridded paper with all existing structures i.e. House, Garden Shed, Boundary walls, noting their heights, Note location of the sun path from sun rise to sun set. Measure the size and location of any garden ponds, streams and the direction of water flow if any. Make a list all the existing trees and shrubs, mark up all hard surfaces. Take not of all site services their location and the line of direction, this will be important to avoid or take into consideration when designing and laying out your garden. Collect as much information as you can include the type of Garden Birds you want to attract and we will then continue with step two.
See you in step No2
Regards Raymond