Keep Birds out of Your Fruit Trees

Fruit trees are a delicious source of meals for our feathered friends. But with all the work that we put into growing these trees so that we can have the harvest for ourselves, it is often times very agitating to realize that you are sharing your harvest with a bunch of cute little free loaders.

 

So some steps that you can take to prevent birds from eating all your apples, cherries, etc. are as follows:

• Reflective objects tend to cause birds to not want to be near the source of this strange light. Also noise is rather bothersome to birds. So one way to knock out two birds with one stone (ha, ha, sorry couldn't help myself) is to find some reflective bells that could be strung together so that not only are the bells ringing, but they are also clanging into each other for even more noise effect.
  
• Birds also don't like being doused with water when they are not expecting it, you might want to consider installing timed sprinklers near your tree so that if birds are resting there they get a sudden cold shower.
• If birds have an even easier food supply to get food from they won't want to bother with the fruit trees. Distract them with bird feeders placed away from the trees (but close enough that they will visit the feeder instead) do a little research on the types of birds that are "visiting" your fruit trees and find out which seeds for your feeder will attract them the most.

Those are just a few tips for keeping birds from eating your fruit. We'd love to hear what methods you've been using!

Garden Bells

Ah, hanging out on the back porch, having cookouts, friends over, just generally enjoying the outdoors. But if you are like me you start noticing all the little things that need to be done outside while enjoying the sounds of birds, the breeze, and the smell of the flowers.

The yard might need to be weeded, the porch stained or power washed, the grill brought out and cleaned up. You get the idea.

But once all the work is done and overly weathered outdoor decor has been fixed or nixed (depending on the condition) you might find yourself yearning for some new decor.

One piece of decor that I feel every porch needs is (wait for it....)

A BELL!

Bells go well with almost any decor style, from country to modern. Garden bells come in several sizes, colors, and shapes:

See,  this is just an example of two different bells, but they are so different and each would give a porch it's own unique signature look.

We would love to see pictures or hear ideas of how you've used garden bells to decorate your own home.