 Growing Gardens
with Julia Hancock
Birdscaping Your Garden
One way to see birdscaping in action is to visit the Lily Ponds, the home of Helen and Bob Trajkoski at 60 Hinchinbrook Road, Burringbar. The garden is open for visitors this weekend, October 20-21, as part of Australia's Open Garden Scheme. The 2ha site has gurgling waterfalls, lily-covered ponds, native rainforest, a vegetable garden and orchard.
The garden is open 10am-4.30pm. Entry is $4.50, which raises funds for Tweed Palliative Support. .
 Spring is the busiest time of the year for birds - everywhere one looks they are mating, feeding chicks, and incessantly hunting for food. If you love birds, you can make their lives a lot easier by helping them to establish a cosy home in your garden.
We all need somewhere safe and dry to live. Consider putting up some nesting boxes in some out-of-the way trees. Contact your local bird observers club for suitable designs for species that populate your area.
Some birds dislike artificial boxes and prefer to establish their nests in old logs and hollows found naturally in living trees. This is one reason why we should never be too fanatical about clearing away dead timber. The other reason is that the decaying timber provides a micro-environment for all sorts of insects and bugs - a constant food source for birds.
What sort of trees and shrubs can be planted to feed birds? Native species obviously, are the best place to start, and fortunately are appealing to humans too (aesthetically, if not edibly). Acacias, banksias, callistemons, callitris, callothamnus, eucalypt, grevilleas, hakeas, melaleucas, and pittosporum are desirable for their nectar and their seeds. Have you noticed how grass trees are flowering better than ever this year? The parrots love them!
There are also a few exotic species that birds favour - sunflowers for their seeds and passionflower and pawpaw for their pulp; and prickly or dense buses such as flowering quince and honeysuckle for protection from weather and predators.
Make sure there is plenty of water around. If you haven't got a pond or a creek nearby then birdbaths or shallow bowls raised off the ground will suffice.
A fine example of birdscaping on a large scale can be viewed this weekend at The Lily Ponds, Lot 60 Hinchinbrook Rd, Burringbar, which is open on Saturday and Sunday through Australia's Open Garden Scheme.
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