Solitary Bee Houses for the Bees, and You

Des Res Mosaic Garden Solitary Bee House

As I've got a lot of solitary bees using my bee houses this year I thought I'd make them some posh houses to use, that are totally practical for them, but are also a nice bit of colour and design for you to look at too. The first one I've called the Des Res Solitary Bee House and it has a slate roof with a mosaic design of a bee against blue skies on both sides. The wooden tube is painted in pale sky blue with a white face. The tube is totally handmade and is specifically cut to be the exact size to hold the perfect length of tube for one solitary bee to make one whole nest in one tube. The bee will lay an egg at the far end, then gather some pollen to leave in with the egg (so the baby bee has something to eat when it hatches), then the bee creates a chamber for that egg using either a piece of leaf, if it's a Leaf Cutter Bee, or a plug of mud, if it's a Red Mason Bee. It'll repeat that process right up to the end of the tube where it'll plug the end and you'll know there's a nest in the tube and which bee made it. Fascinating.

Coastal Mosaic Garden Solitary Bee House

The second version of the posh bee houses is called Coastal Solitary Bee House. This one has a fully mosaiced striped roof using the colours of the coast with sea blues and greens, and sky blues, and pastel painted wood. All the bamboo canes are removeable from both designs so when the nests have hatched in spring, the tubes can be replaced. You can buy exact size replacements, or you can cut some yourself, ready for the bees looking to make their new nests in late spring / early summer.

Copper Verdigris Wirework Daisies Bird Nest Box

Sometimes, I like to do something a bit different from mosaic. I like to create effect and textures, which is sometimes hard to do with tiles. So, I make decorative wirework bird boxes. This one had a lovely brown wood stain on it already, so I thought a light whitewash would suit it, and I really wanted to make some daisy decorations that looked like they were made from copper and had the verdigris starting to happen on them. I think it turned out quite nicely.

Rose Daisy Mosaic Garden Bird Box

Rose Pink Mosaic Garden Bird Box

Newly listed for Easter, this bird box has a design of rose pink, blossom like, daisy flowers, with pale green leaves on a pastel grey background. The border tiles are soft aqua blue, and the box is painted sky blue to tie in. It has a lovely airy feel about it. It is designed to be in the garden all year adding colour and decoration, and as a place for the birds to nest and roost in.

National Nest Box Week

Mosaic Bird Box

Did you know we are in National Nest Box Week? 14th - 21st Feb. Time to put up a nest box to help the birds out, if you can. Here's the official NNBW page - apparently last year was the worst breeding season on record. Probably because of the odd weather we had. Putting up a nest box, and providing food and water during the breeding season, and beyond, are all going to help. If you haven't got room for a bird box, a bird bath or feeder are going to help keep the breeding birds in top condition when they are busy collectiong food for the young.

Mosaic Bird Box

I'm not an obsessive bird watcher, by any means. In fact if the weather's no good I'm not going out anywhere. But I like that I can help my garden birds by just putting a nail up and hanging a box up. Filling a saucer for water. And popping a few fat balls, and peanuts in a feeder will see them alright if times get a bit tough. It's very easy. And a free wild bird display to watch out of the kitchen window while I'm washing up. Win win.

Pop over to my website to see the latest bird bath designs I have in stock, as well as the mosaic bird boxes. They are great in a garden because they are decorative as well as practical. So you can enjoy looking at them as well the birds enjoying using them

New Season Preview - Part 2

Heathland Mosaic Garden Bird Nest Box

Heathland Mosaic Garden Bird Box

The garden tests are going well and the tester bird box has survived the snow and ice intact, so far. I'll give it to the end of this spell of bad weather and then I think they will pass for garden worthy.

This is another of the nest boxes that I will be listing when the testing is complete.

I've been trying to think of names for the palettes I'm using that will link them all together. Not easy, I can tell you. But once I got an idea for one, the others seemed to slot into place. This one I'm going to go with Heathland because of the sandy browns, light and silvery greens, and heather purple which you find in that kind of hot, dry landscape.

Coast Mosaic Garden Bird Nest Box

The bird box that I previewed last week I'm going to call Coast because it's reminding me of a rocky coastline with grey cliffs, blue sky, white clouds and blue/green sea.

Coast Mosaic Garden Bird Nest Box

I have one more palette that I want to add to the range and I have a landscape name in mind that will fit the colours for that too.

I also think that if I name my palettes (like I have done on my mosaic bird baths) I can use them on other items to create ranges. I love it when a plan comes together. So watch this space (or my Folksy shop or website) for the bird boxes and for matching bird baths in the bird box landscape palettes too.

A new season preview.

Coast Mosaic Garden Bird Nest Box

This year I am planning to add to my wildlife product range by including hand decorated bird boxes. I was originally going to cover the whole box with mosaic. But I've decided that I quite like the flexibility of using paint and mosaic to create colour combinations. I like having the large blocks of colour on the sides and roof, contrasting or complimenting with the front design.

Putting mosaic straight onto wood that's going to be used in the garden is a bit iffy, as wood expands and contacts when it gets wet then dries, so I have designed a panel that I can attach to the front of the bird box which is a stable base for the mosaic to go onto and won't be affected by movement. It's also great as extra insulation (helping keep the interior warmth inside the box) and protection (helping to stop the box from overheating if the sun is on it, and protecting the entrance hole a bit more from predators, and direct rain).

Coast Mosaic Garden Bird Nest Box

As with all my items I am currently trialing the boxes my own garden to make sure they stand up to the weather. There's still a few more cold snaps for them to go through before they'll pass. Plus I might well tweak some of the colours (the beauty of leaving some of the design as painted wood).

Keep an eye on this blog, or follow me on Facebook or Twitter to get a heads up when they go on sale.