March Slug Control

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Days are beginning to warm up and slugs are starting to become active again. Digging over your garden now that slugs are closer to the surface will expose them to hungry birds, and their eggs to the elements before they have chance to hatch into a new season of munching molluscs!

Rotovating larger areas where possible is even more effective at eliminating both slugs and eggs. Aim to produce a fine tilth, thus reducing crack refuges. This produces a surface that’s less attractive to slugs but more favourable to young seedlings.

Continue checking beneath all the favourite hiding places for slugs, snails, and their eggs.

Summer flowering bulbs available now!

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We have a great selection of summer flowering bulbs availbale to buy now.

Get a head start on your garden this year by planting bulbs early when the risk of frost & ice is over.

Bulbs are a great way of saving money in your garden, costing a fraction of the price of a mature plant specimen.

We also have a fantastic range of seed potatoes available, but dont delay, they wont be around for long!

Competition time!Calling all twitchers & birders…

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Twitchers, birders, budding ornithologists it’s Competition time

We want to see your very best amateur garden bird photos!

Send us your funniest, most creative, most natural shots to be in with a chance of wining a 12.75kg sack of Peckish Winter Warmer wild bird seed.

Competition ends 31st January midnight & the winner will be selected by a small judging panel of staff here at the garden centre.

Winner will be announced on the 2nd of February.

Please visit our facebook page for further details https://en-gb.facebook.com/CarnonDownsGC/

 

10 Tips For Feeding Your Garden Birds

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10 Tips for feeding your garden birds

About two thirds of all households in Britain feed their garden birds at some stage of the year. Follow these simple tips and after a short time you should be attracting more birds and different species.
1. Use a bird table for putting out kitchen scraps such as animal fats, grated cheese, over ripe fruit and soaked dried fruit, rice, bread crumbs and non-salty bacon. You can also put out nuts and high calorie seed mixes. Avoid putting out raw meat and vegetables which birds will find difficult to digest and which will attract pests.

2. Hang bird feeders filled with black sunflower seeds, sunflower hearts, sunflower-rich mixes and  peanuts.


3. If the food takes a few days to clear from your bird table or the ground then reduce the amount of food offered so it does not go off.

4. Place your feeders and bird table no more than 2 metres from a shrub, fence or tree so the birds have somewhere to escape to if threatened by predators.

5. Fat blocks or fat rubbed into the barks of trees will attract many species including wrens, treecreepers, goldcrests and woodpeckers.

6. Make sure you clean your bird table and bird feeders regularly to ensure food particles and droppings do not build up. This will minimize the risk of disease.

7. Berry-bearing trees and shrubs such as hawthorn, rowan, holly, honeysuckle and ivy will not only provide fruit for birds to feed on but they will also provide somewhere for them to shelter and nest and attract insects for the birds to eat.

8. Cultivated and wild flowering plants such as sunflowers, evening primrose, teasel and shepherd’s purse provide seeds and will attract insects. Leave the stems long to give shelter in the winter and then cut down early in the spring.

9. Let your lawn grow slightly longer. If possible leave areas of grass at different heights to optimise food potential for birds. Leave a patch of long grass in the winter for shelter.

10. Put out a fresh supply of water every day – use a large dish, an upturned dustbin lid, a bird bath or you could even build a pond if you have the space. If it is very cold use tepid water.