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Arbutus Gardens

As we were touring Renee Moog's garden, another visitor told me that I should go to Arbutus Garden Arts, which was just down the road. I had no idea we were close but it was a garden I was familiar with and always wanted to visit. A pleasant surprise! Norm Jacobs is the owner, and he showed us around and answered questions. The garden is also a nursery and he propagates the plants. However, he says that he is in the process of retiring. My friend Linda bought an absolutely stunning weeping snowbell tree. I managed to discipline myself and only left with a groundcover, Erigeron pulchellus 'Meadow Muffin'. The garden is stunning with winding pathways surrounded by packed borders of mostly conifers and Japanese maples. I was enamored by the most beautiful specimen of Sourwood Tree ( Oxydendrum arboreum ). I have one that seems to be stunted, but Mr. Jacobs told me that they need space for their root zone and do not like competition. This could be my problem, as mine is surrou...
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An experiment to keep birds from flying into windows


Birds flying into windows happens often at our house and it is an upsetting situation. I have been trying to come up with a solution to this problem but most of the alternatives have been undesirable. There is the option of simply closing the curtains but we can't stand to be in a dark house. 

Recently someone posted on social media about using vertical adhesive strips every few inches apart. Apparently lines in the strips alerted birds that there was a barrier there. This sounded promising but we didn't really want to stick anything to the windows. 

Someone else posted that they had used beaded curtain beads or something similar so this gave me more ideas. Recently I came across some suncathcher prisms and a light bulb went off. Michael installed the prisms (they hang from a chain) using suction cups but that did not work when they came crashing down the following day. I then put two cup hooks at the top of the window and ran a wire along the top. The prisms are hanging from the wire and I staggered some of them to get varying lengths. The plan is for these to provide enough of a distraction to keep birds from flying toward the window. I assume that I may need more of them placed closer together. 

It will be interesting to see if this works. This doesn't address our larger picture window in our living room or the sliding doors that go out to the deck. Do you have any methods that you recommend?



 

View from inside the house

 

 

 

 

 

 

Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy

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  1. Karin / Southern MeadowsMay 4, 2021 at 2:41 AM

    We have the same problem and it really upsets me. It was more of a problem during the winter months when hawks would fly in and the song birds would take off quickly. We moved our bird feeding station further away from the house and it made a significant difference. I hung colored orbs in our sunroom windows. A combination of both these actions seems to have helped and then this spring during mating season a bluebird kept coming to our sliding doors and pecking on it. I think it saw its reflection which translated to competition. I hope your solution works for y'all.

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  2. Kris PetersonMay 4, 2021 at 12:12 PM

    The prisms are a great idea and I'm going to try them. I tried a large decal of a hawk on the window that takes the most strikes but, while it may have helped some, there were still too many incidents (and I wasn't fond of the decal). I moved one set of bird feeders to the front of the house where there are only a few small windows, which also helped. Not filling the feeders during the outbreak of salmonella among song birds also seems to have made a difference.

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  3. Hoover BooMay 4, 2021 at 3:25 PM

    Your solution is very attractive, and gives you an excuse to shop for additional glass pieces. ;^)

    Mine, I taped two big pieces of paper to the glass. Not attractive!

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  4. Lisa at GreenbowMay 7, 2021 at 2:23 PM

    I do glass beads on fishing line. Works good.

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