More berries mean a hard winter - old wives tale?
Hi,
there is a theory that extra berries on the shrubs means a hard winter and
nature is taking care of all the birds etc.
This sounds doubtful if subjected to logical analysis anyway - my 2p theory
is that more berries means a good summer, and good summers (lots of high
pressure and clear skies) are often followed by hard winters (lots of high
pressure and clear skies).
Be that as it may:
we had loads of berries on the shrubs last year - after a wonderful summer.
There are still loads of berries on the shrub by our steps (cotoneaster
springs to mind, but that may be the other one).
I need to prune this back because it is invading the area of the steps and I
do like to go down into the garden :-)
However it is still loaded with red berries, and pruning back will invlove
throwing away most of these berries.
So; are the birds still dependant on last years berries, or will this years
growth be feeding them? I know the pigeons are doing well off the buds on
our plum trees.
As a first stage I have cleared the top layer of growth, exposing the
berries underneath.
I will watch for a bit in case the birds start stripping these, but I
suspect that nature has over provided in this case.
Obviously I don't want to remove a valuable resource for the wild life, but
how long do they depend on last years berries?
TIA
Dave R
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