Decorate a Tree for the Birds

Although many think of decorating a tree for the birds at Christmas, it might be even more welcomed later. In the depth of winter it’s good to supply suet and seed for the birds to eat. It’s also cheering for us to do something creative and fun.

At Country Garden’s Holiday Open House in 2011 we featured a tree for the birds. Here are some of our ideas for edible ornaments:

~  Buy day-old multi-grain bagels and slice them lengthwise into quarters. Spread suet or a suet and peanut butter mix on one or both sides of the bagel and press it into birdseed. Tie onto the tree.

~  Cut juice oranges and apples into thin slices and hang from the tree as is.

~  decorate with raisins, and/or peanuts. Thread raffia through four parts of the rind to create hangers for this orange cup.

~  String cranberries and popcorn to hang on the tree.

~  Tie a ribbon or raffia around the base of a pinecone and smear the cone with suet. Stud with cranberries for a touch of red.

~  Top the tree with grasses and seed-heads.

Note: use a combination of raffia or twine to attach ornaments. The birds can use these as nesting material in the spring.