21-07-2003, 06:52 PM
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BIRD BATH QUESTION
In article ,
(WARRENRN1) wrote:
i like to feed the birds in my area.... and would also like to provide water
for them.... to drink and bathe.... but my cement bird bath grows
algae at an
incredible rate.... short of cleaning it every day.... which is not
something
i am thinking about.... is there any additives that i can put in the water to
prevent algae formation?
Nothing that wouldn't injur the birds.
Birds prefer birdbaths in shade. If you could plant shrubbery as a
backdrop to the birdpath, which hung over it a bit, the lessened amount of
direct sunlight should cut down on algae growth.
There's nothing actually harmful about algae. Our birdbath is well-shaded
by shrubbery on three sides, so gets very little algae, but what it does
get doesn't actually show, because the color of the birdbath is so dark.
The bath is wide enough there's room for a little "island" of a rock for
birds to hop to, & a potted bog plant sitting in the water. Leaf-fall
accumulates in the birdbath, & the birds often drop hard hawthorn or rowan
berries in it to soak. Whenever it gets a little cluttered with sunken
organic bits, I just give it a hard spraying while watering the garden, &
it takes no further upkeep.
A few copper pennies in a birdbath is said to keep algae down without
harming birds that drink from it. I don't know if that actually works, but
copper is an algae retardant used for some aquariums.
-paghat the ratgirl
--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/
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