Like restless people spending a nice spring day looking for a new apartment, many active birds are searching for a new abode in the warming sun. With a little effort you can play landlord and make their search easier. Build a birdhouse.

I understand that not every gardener relishes the idea of encouraging more birds to invade their planting beds. One of the nice things about making a birdhouse is that you can design it for specific birds. You get to choose which birds move into your neighborhood and which ones have to look elsewhere.

Every bird has unique requirements when it comes to their housing. The entrance hole needs to be a certain size, the inner cavern can't be too big or too small, it has to be a certain height above the ground, the proximity to trees or grass or buildings matters. Vary any of these factors and you change the appeal of the house for different birds. By focusing on combining these attributes you can encourage favorite birds to move in.

I'll use the House Wren as an example. Wrens are pretty little song birds common to all of the Americas and can be a great benefit to gardeners. Unlike my nemesis the Magpies which seem to enjoy eating the seeds, berries, and fruit in my garden, wrens primarily eat insects, slugs, and snails. Attracting more wrens improves my pest control plan.

Wrens have very basic housing requirements. A nest made up of twigs, hair, bark, and moss, in a cavity a few meters above the ground is all they need. Building a wooden box and placing it where they can find it is all that's necessary to promote their arrival. So I made some wren bird houses.

I started with a standard wooden fence board that can be found at most big box home and garden centers. A one inch by six inch cedar plank, four feet long (1" x 6" x 4') is enough to make one house. This board will be cut into six pieces, one for each side of the box that becomes the bird house.

There are no fancy cuts or designs. The birds don't care if it matches your home decor or if it has won a design contest. They're just looking for a hole where they can make their nest. This bird house is just a wood box. You can decorate and paint it if you like, but it's not necessary.

The back of the house is 11 inches long; this is the longest piece and provides extra space to secure the bird house to a fencepost or tree. The front and two sides are eight inches long. The floor is four inches deep. The roof is 8 1/2 inches long and provides an overhang to help keep rain out. Lay out the board and mark lines at 11", 8", 8", 8", 4", and 8 1/2" for straight cuts.

On one of the wall pieces a hole is drilled about six inches from the bottom. This is the most important part of building a wren house, or any bird house. The hole needs to be 1 1/8 inch to 1 1/4 inch in diameter and it needs to be a specific height above the floor. Change the size and you change the occupant. If you cut the hole 1 1/2 inches wide you're inviting sparrows, swallows, and bluebirds. Believe it or not, 1/8 of an inch can make a big difference.

At this point you put all the pieces together to form a box. I start by nailing together the floor and one side wall. A pneumatic finish nailer makes the job faster, but finish nails and a hammer will work fine too.

Turn the piece over and connect the other side. Using exterior wood glue at the joints will make the house stronger.

With the two sides and floor together, attach the front piece, being sure to line up and square all edges.

Attach the back piece allowing for an inch to 1 1/2 inch overlap at both the top and bottom. Holes drilled in this overlap is what you'll use to attach the bird house to a post or tree.

To prevent water and moisture buildup inside the house, drill some drainage holes in the bottom. A 1/4 inch drill bit works well.

For extra ventilation, drill a few holes at the top of each side. After drilling the holes shake out extra sawdust from the inside of the house.

The top piece is not nailed into position. One side or the top needs to be removable so the house can be cleaned out at the end of the season and readied for new occupants the next spring. You can make a pivoting side piece where you put pivot nails at the top of each edge and use a screw to secure the bottom. I find it easier to drill holes in the top and connect the top piece with screws so it can be removed as needed.

The birdhouse is complete. Mount it in a tree, under the eaves, or on a fence or wall about two to three meters high and hang out a rental sign for wrens.

Bird houses can be made with just about any wood. Pine is cheap and available, but it tends to have sanded surfaces and the rough wood of the cedar I use actually helps baby birds get a grip and climb from the nest. If you use smooth pine, rough up the interior walls.

You don't need to put a perch at the entrance of the house. Most birds can land on the edge of the hole and climb inside without assistance.

Predators are a definite concern with bird houses. If you mount it on a pole or post you might want to attach a metal guard to prevent squirrels, raccoons, or cats from climbing up. You can also buy predator guards that fit around the entrance hole to keep the same animals from reaching in the nest; attaching another piece of wood with the same hole dimensions to double the entrance depth can work too.

You can find many guidelines and plans for birdhouses online and at the library. I found great information and plans at www. 50birds.com. Enter "how to make bird houses" on google and you'll get millions of suggestions.

If you like birds in your garden and want to attract more, consider building a bird house. It's easy, inexpensive, and encourages wildlife in your garden.

Go to www.50birds.com

Making seed balls is a great garden project for gardeners of all ages. A seed ball is a small object that packs seeds together with a growing medium for planting. The concept is accredited to Masanobu Fukuoko, a Japanese farmer and philosopher who developed the basic formula of mixing clay with humus or compost, and seeds. The balls can be sown in a "natural farming" method where soil tilling isn't necessary. The seed balls are thrown or laid on the soil and nature's rains dissolve them to reveal and germinate the seeds.
 
Last week I wrote about "seed bombs" and how to make them. Seed bombs are essentially seed balls with a sometimes nefarious purpose. The clay and compost balls are tossed into vacant city lots or barren fields and flowers and grasses sprout depending on the seed in the seed bomb.

For a more aesthetic seed ball, a family gardening project, and a fun gift idea, consider making seed balls from recycled paper. Instead of clay and compost, paper holds the seeds together in the ball.

When water is added to paper it can be pulverized to a pulp. Seed is mixed with the paper pulp and turned into seed balls. These seed balls can be formed into many different shapes and made in many different colors.

To make the pulp you'll need a blender or food processor. I recommend using one that is old and not regularly used for your meals. Inks in the paper will be transferred to the plastic and are hard to clean. I purchased a used food processor from Goodwill for a few dollars. It's now dedicated to the task of making seed balls.

The paper needs to be torn or shredded before adding to the blender. If you pack in a wad of paper and then add water you'll probably burn up the motor pretty quickly. Smaller paper pieces work better.

I began with four full sheets (four pages each) of newspaper and ran the newspaper through my paper shredder. I've also used shredded bills and junk mail to make seed balls. The shredded paper breaks apart easily in the blender when water is added.


Working in batches, put the torn or shredded paper in the blender and add water. I've found that soaking the paper in a tub of water before adding it to the blender helps it break apart easier. Even if it was soaked beforehand you'll still need to add water to the blender.

We're talking about a lot of water. The four sheets of newspaper required cups and cups of water. I tried measuring to develop a precise recipe but stopped after the first batch. A couple handfuls of shredded paper required more than two cups of water.

The paper needs to turn into a mushy mash. The blades of the blender or food processor will rip the paper into shreds only when it is overly saturated. If you don't use enough water you'll get a clump that just bounces around the blender or stays in one place, not breaking apart. Add more water as the blender is blending until you get the paper thoroughly disintegrated and a mushy pulp develops.

Remove the pulp and set it in a bowl or put it into a colander to allow some of the water to drip out. Continue blending all your paper and water in small batches until all of it is pulp.

At this point try to remove a good part of the water by pressing or squeezing the pulp with your hands. Discard the water or save it for another batch. With the pulp very damp, but not dripping water, transfer it to your mixing bowl.

I added 1/4 cup of wildflower seeds to the entire pulpy mass that four sheets of newspaper produced. Using my hands I kneaded it all together like making bread dough. You want the seeds to be fully mixed into the paper pulp.

When it's all incorporated, takes small pieces of the mix and press them into molds, into cookie cutters, or form them with your hands into balls. I find that using small cookie cutters give you a greater variety of shapes to choose from. Keep adding the pulp and seed mixture until the mold is filled.

The seed balls will need to dry so removing as much water as you can at this point will accelerate the entire process. Begin by compacting the paper as much as you can to force water out and then soak up the water with paper towels or newspaper. These blotting materials can be turned into more seed balls later on.

Gently remove the seed balls from your mold and let them dry for a few days. Removing them allows you to use the mold for the next batch and also give the seed balls exposed surface area for drying. They'll expand slightly in the process.

By using water tinted with a few drops of food coloring you can get seed balls of any color you like. You can also try shredding colored paper and mixing that with water. Varying the shapes and colors provides wonderful gift opportunities.

While seed balls made with clay and compost can be thrown on the soil surface and will sprout, seed balls made with recycled paper work best when planted in pots beneath a thin layer of potting soil. The decorative shapes and colors make the planting a fun activity for kids.

Making seed balls with recycled paper works well on many levels. You reuse waste materials while adding fun to planting. It's not as messy as the clay seed balls can be and the finished products look better. The entire project takes just a few minutes and the paper seed balls can be stored for months before giving away or being planted.

If you're looking for a fun gardening project, try making recycled paper seed balls.

More info read my article "How to Make Seed Bombs."
 

As landscape armaments go, seed bombs are my weapon of choice. A popular tool in guerrilla gardening, they allow seeds to be sown in difficult-to-reach locations like vacant city lots and other barren, urban locations. While popularized on the internet as a method of adding life to blighted areas, seed bombs can also be a fun and interesting way to add plants to home gardens.

Seed bombs are nothing more than clay and another growing medium like compost or worm castings mixed together with seeds and water. Formed into a ball and dried, they can be tossed anywhere the thrower's arm can reach. Rain or irrigation cause the clay-based ball to dissolve into a blob where the seeds can germinate amid the compost and grow into vibrant plants.

Recipes vary but the most common one found on the web is:

Five parts clay
Three parts compost
One part seed
One to two parts water

My garden already has too much clay and my region is quite arid so I prefer a recipe that has more compost and less clay, closer to a 50-50 mix. Dry clay powder is combined with the compost and seed and water is added. Clay is the binder and as long as you use enough of it to hold the ball together just about any combination will work.

The choice of seed is completely personal. Wildflower mixes are popular but check the specific seed mix to make sure you're not introducing noxious weeds or invasive plants. Lettuce and salad seed mixes are a nice option, as are bombs concentrating on sunflowers or peas and beans.

The biggest problem I encountered in making seed bombs was finding the clay. Dry, powder, ceramic clay is preferred. You'll see "dry, red clay" mentioned often in recipes, but the color really doesn't matter. The problem comes in that few hobby stores and retail stores sell dry clay. Surprisingly, few ceramic supply stores sell it as well. My city of half a million people only has one ceramic outlet that offers it and a 50-pound bag is the smallest size available. For about twenty dollars I thought it was worth the price.

Moist clay can be purchased from nearly all hobby and ceramic stores. You can use this pre-mixed wet clay to make seed bombs but incorporating the compost and seeds thoroughly is more difficult. You also have to be careful because some of the hobby blends are designed to harden permanently when dry and they may not dissolve in the rain as desired. Use the powder if you can find it.
 
If you're making seed bombs for your own garden and your soil has a propensity for clay, you can use your own soil in the mix. No need to buy clay if you have your own already. I wouldn't recommend using your soil if you plan to share your seed bombs because you may inadvertently transfer your soil problems to another gardener.

Begin by measuring out the ingredients per your recipe. For these photos I used the 5-3-1 ratio mentioned above:  1 1/4 cups clay, 3/4 cup sifted compost, and 1/4 cup wildflower seeds.

Mix the dry ingredients completely to get the best and most even distribution of seed. Then add the water. I used two parts or 1/2 cup. Combine well with a spoon or your fingers.

The easiest thing to do at this point is to roll the mixture into small balls between your hands. This can get messy. The size doesn't matter, though bigger balls will concentrate more seeds in a small area and the plants will have to compete with each other upon germination. This recipe made a baker's dozen of 1 1/2-inch wildflower seed bombs.

I like to flatten the balls to make little disks. The flatter shape helps keep the seed bombs from rolling away down my hilly landscape and I think a flat piece will dissolve easier and more evenly than a ball when placed on open soil; with our limited rain every drop needs to count and a disk will catch more drops than a sphere. You can press the mixture into a mold if you want a certain shape.

Place the newly-formed, wet seed bombs in a safe place to dry. You can put them on a sheet of newspaper and it will absorb some of the moisture but I don't find that this accelerates drying much. After two days the seed bombs will be dry and ready to use. There's no need to use an oven. Just let them air dry.

If you want to practice a little guerrilla gardening, take the seed bombs and toss them where you want new plants. Be aware that trespassing or littering laws may apply if you throw them on public land or property that isn't yours.

I suggest you take the seed bombs and toss them in areas of your own landscape where you want a random growth of new plants. For children, it's a fun game to toss the little marbles around. Left where they land they'll sprout when the water falls, either rain or from your sprinkler.
 
For a more controlled process the seed bombs become seed balls that can be placed in pots or specific garden rows. Planted just below the soil surface they'll germinate with normal garden watering. Like seed tape the seed balls help you control where your seeds go.

The entire process of making seed bombs is a good one for schools and gardening clubs. Make it a group activity. If you use a light-colored clay, add food coloring to color the balls. Package them and give as gifts. Have a bomb party and let your friends and family help plant a new garden bed.

Have fun with the whole thing. In gardening, bomb doesn't have to mean a dangerous weapon.

_Many, many people want to know what to do with pine needles. Since I first wrote about using pine needles in the garden a year ago, ("What to Do With Pine Needles", December 15, 2010), that article has been read by hundreds of people looking for help with the common problem of too many needles in autumn. This year I expand on the topic by offering more uses for pine needles, some that I do and others that I found through research.

_First, using pine needles as a mulch is the best way to use large quantities of the pesky things. I have about a dozen large Ponderosa Pine trees around the house and can use all of the needles as a weed-reducing covering on my garden paths. I dump the pine needles by the wheelbarrow load between my raised beds. It helps that I have a large garden and plenty of paths that need weed suppression. With normal gardening activities the pine needles are compressed and broken down by mid summer and I usually desire more. If you have more needles than garden paths, consider saving them in bags for additional summer mulch applications.

My strawberries are mulched exclusively with pine needles. They're the best mulch I've found for plants like strawberries that are perennial and benefit when their fruit rests above the soil. The stiff pine needles allow plenty of air and water to reach the soil and don't compact when left undisturbed. The strawberry runners are able to dive beneath the needles and root, creating new sister plants. Many other garden plants can benefit from pine needles or a combination mulch along with straw.

_Another use for pine needles offers an indirect benefit for gardens. Beekeepers use smoke to control their bees as they inspect and manage their hives. Pine needles are virtually perfect as the fuel in metal smokers. Many beekeepers budget the cost of fuel, often burlap or cotton, into their beekeeping and would welcome the opportunity for free fuel. Contact your local beekeepers association or beekeepers you may know and offer them a bag of pine needles as smoker fuel.

Along the same lines, pine needles are great fire starters. For our outdoor fire pit it's easy to grab a few handfuls of pine needles from the nearest tree when I'm layering the kindling and wood; there's no need for newspaper. For indoor fireplaces, pine needles can play the same role. To avoid the mess of loose pine needles all over the hearth, using thread I bundle the needles into little wands to supplement kindling wood. For a rustic decoration the wands can be stacked along with cut wood near the fireplace. Pine needles will burn quickly so they're best when partnered with other basic fire starting components.

_If you plan to go to the trouble of tying pine needles into bundles, consider using them as sachets. Fresh pine needles have more pine fragrance but can be mixed with dried needles to make a decorative, fragrant, long-lasting home accessory. Hung in a closet, they'll quickly make it smell like a forest. Wrapped in a sachet bag, they can add fragrance to drawers, closets, and even automobiles; why buy a paper, fake tree to hang from your rear view mirror when you can have the real thing.

Expanding on the needles-in-a-bag concept, create outdoor pillows and mattresses. Using sturdy, weather-resistant fabric, sew large bags and stuff them with pine needles. Similar to straw mattresses commonly used for hundreds of years, these equivalents can work well on a patio or outdoor deck area. They will be slow to break down and should hold their shape and cushion for a long time. If the fabric material is plastic, thick, or used with an internal barrier, the pointy tips shouldn't protrude.

You can also make tea with pine needles, primarily fresh ones. I stumbled across this use on the internet but haven't tried it. Some holistic medicine practitioners say pine needles offer health benefits and are high in Vitamin C. Before you try it I'd recommend conducting your own research to confirm it's what you want. There are many sites out there with more information about pine needle tea.

Start a pine needle compost pile. Last year I raked many piles of needles and used most of them, but one pile remained in an out-of-the-way corner of my yard. I raked in fall and in early summer I finally got around to using the pile, to replenish the mulch on my garden paths. Imagine my surprise when I began lifting the pile into my wheelbarrow and discovered that the inside and base of the pile was fully decomposed into nice, black compost. The snow, rain, and mass of the pile had effectively composted it. If you have more needles than you can use, put them in an area that will receive plenty of moisture and let them decompose.

For the truly crafty people, make a pine needle doll. Raffia and straw are often used in bundles that are bent and wrapped to create the doll's head. Long pine needles that aren't too dry can be used the same way. Once the head is formed a simple cloth dress completes the doll.

While many people with pine needles would prefer they just disappear, with a little effort and ingenuity you can wile away a winter's day by using pine needles creatively. If you have another use for pine needles let me know. I'm looking forward to what next year's pine needle article can offer.