Preparing for THIS Winter

There's snow in New York now. I think of my son up there in that cold, white world so far from Texas here he was born and raised. The fall migration has brought birds winging through Texas toward the sunny tropics. This is an odd year; a La Nina year, when the weather will take a turn for the unusual. I check NASA's website, hoping the Texas weather will change. The long range forecast says "dry." I suppose that's not as much a surprise as it could be, given that Texas tends to be a fairly dry state. But this may be one of those "drier than normal" winters.

Most years, I let nature take its course and wait to see what spring and the gardens will do. But this year, I'm feeling impatient. I'm changng my stategies. This year, I'll water supplementally during the winter to make sure there's enough ground water for my flowers to grow. And I'm thinking about adding another layer of mulch to my wildflower bed, for there's a promise of a dry winter and a dry spring here in Texas.

While you're doing your winter garden planning, check on the long range weather forecasts. If it looks like a dry spring and summer, plant annuals that don't require as much water. On the other hand, if Mother Nature seems like she's planning on turning your front yard into a natural mudpack, you might want to consider something that loves a good rain.

And while you're doing gardening planning, this is the time (as the experienced wildscapers know) to change the foods you're offering to the wildlife to something more suitable for winter.

I went shopping for birdseed this week and was reminded again that the commercial bird food available here in Texas isn't geared toward the seasonal needs of birds. During the summer, birdseed is simply a supplement to other foods found in the wild. But in the winter, birds need a good source of protein and fats to help them stay in good health throughout the cold months.

Good winter foods include:

apples (provided you don't live in a climate where they freeze instantly), oranges, peanut butter (my favorite winter feeding treat), black oil sunflower seeds, raw peanuts, suet (you can make your own, though there are a number of good specialty suets that are commercially available), and bits of meat fat in addition to a good grade of birdseed.

Be prepared to do a little squirrel distracting or squirrel management, though -- all those tempting bird foods are sheer heavenly delights to those furry rodent acrobats!

Go To Page: 1 2

Articles in this Topic    Discussions in this Topic