Topic: Messy Housekeepers

[Dianna]

Our wild birds make a mess with the feeders and they don't clean up after themselves at all. After trying to weed out the mess from under the feeder in my side flowerbed and under the feeder at the pond garden, I was wondering how all of you handle the messes? Where do you keep your feeders so that you don't have to weed behind them?

We have a feeder in the gazebo, but I think I am going to have to move that one, too. There is seed everywhere out there and I don't think I want to have to sweep behind them all the time. The little "buzzards" could show their thanks and clean up behind themselves!

[Triss]

My feeders are right in my garden and I just go through with the hand rake when I see things popping up.  Still get my share of weeds but in general the daylillies are bigger and cover them up really well.

[Tonya]

I keep mine out in the grassy area of the yard and just mow any offenders down with the mower

[barleychown]

They also sell a mess-free seed mix, around here it's called the patio mix.

OR you could let a few of the plants grow. Millet grass is pretty neat. 

[Dianna]

Triss, four feeders are all in gardening areas. I checked outside today around the gazebo and sure enough the seed is "weeding" up my mulch around it, too. It isn't easy weeding with the cedar bark down there. I put mulch down to kill weeds and the bird seed weeds are growing from the top of it...

Tonya, I will be moving my feeders, I think. I can put two in the trees but one is on a pole, and another is attached to Jim's ham shack. It will just be aggravating trying to find spots for them that won't be hard to mow under or around. Our trees are still really small and I have a time mowing around them now without something hanging in them. I am always getting a limb in the face out there mowing...

Sarah, millet grass is NOT neat in flower beds on top of mulch. It looks terrible. It would make beautiful grass for a bare spot, though. If I can't find the mess-free seed mix, the feeders are definitely getting moved out of my gardens. I didn't know there was such a thing as mess-free seed mix. Thanks for the heads-up. I will be looking for it. I bet it will cost an arm and a leg, though....