A Gardeners Forum Forums Members History Forum Life 2006 reasonable bird baths?

hello i need tips on putting together a bird bath or baths,, anything or ideas that are easy or reasonable would help me out, they are off the hook out there,, really unaffordable,,and i want one near my windows and porch and near food for them,, its important, but dont want to go broke finding or making one,, thank -you..Beth:)

Hmmmm, there's lots of things you could make one out of.....I bought mine at Lowes for 27 bucks I think...It's resin, but looks like stone. I love the big huge concrete ones but they aren't in my budget....

Howdy, Beth!
You know those huge plastic pots (or resin, or whatever they are) at Wal-Mart that have the matching saucer thing for underneath them?
The saucer things for those big pots make fantastic bird baths!
And, they are pretty! And they just cost a few bucks for the HUGE ones!

You can do so much with them...set them on rocks, make a stand for them out of something, just use your imagination and whatever you have around!

Beth, I made a bird bath from one of the glazed ceremic saucers I got at Lowes and put it in one of those Wrought Iron plant holders (short one) and it only cost me about $15.00. You need to buy both the saucer & plant holder at the same place so you can see if it fits properly. The birds love it and so do the squirrels.

patches

Years ago, people were taking plastic pot bottoms and inserting them into tomato cages for the stand. I tried it, but never really got it to be very stable.

Tips:
Birdbaths should be shallow. You are imitating a puddle. 1/2 to 1" deep water is all you need. Songbirds cant swim, and a waterlogged bird is a predators easy catch.
The surface should NoT be slippery. They need to get a footing/grip.
Be sure to change the water often. (You wouldnt want to bathe or drink where someone else just did 'potty' would you?)This will help prevent the spread of avian diseases, and mosquitos wont have a chance to breed and hatch. Scrub out the bath often too. to prevent algae & icky stuff build up.
Be sure theres some sort of cover nearby, like a bush. The birds will feel safer from predators, and like to preen & dry on a perch.

I have a BIG plastic saucer that goes under pots, approximately 22" across. I put a piece of fieldstone in so theres varying depths and footing. I put it on a large foot tall stump, or a log would work.

i did the tomato cage/saucer thing and love it. i bought the biggest tomato cage and turned it upside down so the "legs" you put in the ground are pointing up. i cut them off and buried the cage just about an inch or so. bought a planter saucer that fit just inside the top ring and voila! done. the past few years i grew sweet peas up the cage- this year i'm planting butterfly weed since it's a perennial. my birds love it and it's SO easy to clean since the plastic saucer weighs nothing i can bring it in the house and scrub it down when it gets yucky. the squirrels occasionaly hop up there and get a drink too.

[img]http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b6db22b3127cce889b974f8c0900000015100BbtWzduyYsZ[/img]

That looks great, pagarden!
I didn't know about turning it upside down - of course that would give it more stability! Thanks for telling us that!

what a great idea, i would never have thought of that, fabulous!!!!

I saw a neat idea on t.v. a couple of days ago. Take three different size clay pots, upend them, and place the saucer on top. You can paint them, trim them, etc. anyway you want, provided you put a sealer on the tray so the paint won't hurt the birds. What they did was quite pretty actually using small tiles to edge the pots after painting them the desired color.

I saw a neat idea on t.v. a couple of days ago. Take three different size clay pots, upend them, and place the saucer on top. You can paint them, trim them, etc. anyway you want, provided you put a sealer on the tray so the paint won't hurt the birds. What they did was quite pretty actually using small tiles to edge the pots after painting them the desired color.

I have seen that one too - very creative and fun to decorate!

Lynne, you gotta buy the really expensive ones'..
the cheaper one's are filmsy...

Did you do it standing up on the points,
or turn it upside down so the points where up in the air????

Oh geeeeeeeeeeesh, I guesss I should have finished reading this... Pagarden, that looks fabulous... THANK~YOUUUUUUUUU for posting that picture... that's it, exactly how you're supposed to do it...you did a great job...

Did you know that if you feel like it and are a bit industrious maybe with like a saw or something of the likes, you can then measure the other two circles, and cut out niches in those same saucers and have a 3 tier birdbath.....???

I put the rocks in mine too, for them to walk on and as the water depths go down or up *when I fill it* they have something to walk/and land on...

Also, the rocks warm up the water too from the sunshine.. and butterflies love warm water...

Side note, mine are all by trees, and bushes so they can land in them like Wrennie said....
so they are safe and can watch the surrounding areas before they go over..

I alsooooooooo put up empty tomato cages by them too, so if someone's there, other's have landing spots for themselves and their little feet wrap nicely around them...

I also make sure there is one on the ground for ground feeders like morning doves...
*but you have to watch that one as it can attrack ground walking big animals..especially when it's dry outside and they too are looking for water*

yea- mine is under the egde of the tree line. so i can spot them- the sit in the tree branches and check out the water before going in for a drink- it's so cute. and i don't dare put a ground water feeder- every deer in the neighborhood would be over. i spotted my first one of the year in my yard the other day- cutting through. i suppose he hadn't noticed the hostas yet. i really hope they aren't bad this year- they are cute but annoy the heck out of me. and i don't want any deer ticks around- my son is still on antibiotics for lyme disease! stuiped deer...