Re: [gardeners] Thursday in the garden
Allen Merten (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Fri, 31 Mar 2000 09:17:31 -0600
David,
Reading your message had me chuckling. One man's backyard habitat may be
another man's tangled mess. Have you asked your neighbor if they are trying
to provide nesting sites and shelter for birds?
There are several national and local organizations dedicated to
increasing urban and backyard habitats for birds to mitigate the habitat
loss due to home building, parking lots etc.
Does this area shade your garden? If not maybe you could put some bird
feeders/water source up on your side of the fence and be absolutely amazed
at the variety of birds that you would be able to see during the changing
seasons.
If the tangled mess is shading the only place you can put your garden,
that is a real dilemma.
I wouldn't want to be without my garden. I also would be lost during the
winter if I wasn't able to play host to nearly 100 species of migratory
birds.
I'm a "stay at home" because of physical disabilities. The winter would
be a long season of drudgery without the birds. Luckily, I don't have the
pest birds like Starlings, English Sparrows, Pigeons and Grackles.
I am fortunate enough to have enough space to garden to my limitations
and still provide habitat for birds year round. The nesting birds keep my
tomatos free of Hornworms and help control other insects as well. I sure
would like to have some birds whose favorite meal is grasshoppers/fire ants.
Those two pests do a lot of damage to all of my garden crops.
You certainly have the right to enjoy your property in the manner that
pleases you best. I hope that you and your neighbor can work something out
that let's both of you enjoy your properties and remain good neighbors.
Allen
Bastrop Co., SE Central Tx.
Wildscape #1071
Zone 8