The perils of feeding birds on your lawn

I've written several articles about feeding birds in the garden, just type the word "birds" into the search box, top left, if you are interested.

But today is a warning against putting bird feeders on your lawn.

One of my Clients wanted to move their feeding station onto the grass in front of their window, partly so that they could watch the birds more closely (a perfectly reasonable idea, considering how much it costs to buy the bird food), and partly because they were making such a mess on the patio.

I warned them that it would ruin the grass underneath, but they didn't believe me. 

Me: "I should warn you that the birds will scatter a lot of seeds, and they will germinate in the lawn."

Them: "No problem, we'll just mow them down." 

(the sprouting seeds, not the birds)

(at least, I hope so....)

Me: "...and the birds will make quite a mess of the grass."

Them: "It won't matter if they poop on the grass," they said, "because it's biodegradable."

Me: *silently, to myself* "You are going to regret this...."

So I moved the feeding station, we hung all the feeders back up, and they were very pleased.

Two weeks later, I arrived to find that the bird feeding station had been moved back onto the patio.

And this is why: 

Yup, there is a large patch of grass which has been completely ruined: those bare patches are hard and glazed, where many bird (and rat!) feet have stomped around while pecking up (or eating) the fallen seed.  

Wild birds (and rats) aren't like chickens, which scratch to find food, therefore scarifying and lifting the ground: they just eat the loose seeds, then flatten it right down.

I find this in my own garden, where my bird feeders are over shingle: the shingle becomes weirdly compacted, to the point where, every so often, I have to go out with a Daisy Grubber and physically loosen it.

Taking a closer look at this lawn: 

...you can see that there are also areas of fluffy white mould/fungus.

These are formed when a clump of seeds gets wet and sticks together (often due to being pooed upon) and then rots.

Even the rats won't eat it!

You can see what damage it has done to the grass, but what you can't see is how rock-hard the whole area now is. There is a solid crust all the way across the area.

Lovely!

So I will have to scarify the area, maybe I'll enrich it a little, with some compost, then a generous fistful of grass seed, in the hopes that it's still warm enough (mid October, as I write) for the grass to germinate and fill in the bare patch.

So, give some though to where you site your bird feeders: and accept that feeding birds will result in a certain amount of mess!

Did you enjoy this article? Did you find it useful? Would you like me to answer your own, personal, gardening question? Become a Patron - just click here - and support me! Or use the Donate button for a one-off donation. If just 10% of my visitors gave me a pound a month, I'd be able to spend a lot more time answering all the questions!!