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35 · OAKVILLE BEAVER Friday, May 29, 2009 Spring Home and Garden Attracting beautiful birds to your backyard is easier than you think (NC)--For many gardeners, having songbirds visit is one of the benefits of having a garden in the first place. It's always a delight to see the variety of birds that drop by for a nibble or a rest. If you want to create a bird-friendly garden, it's important to attract them with natural sources of food as well as using bird feeders. Birds have simple needs: food, water, shelter, and protection from predators. Naturally, native birds thrive on native plants, so choose a selection of regional beauties that produce seeds, berries, or nectar. Work dead trees or old stumps into your landscape to attract insecteaters and provide shelter. The more diverse your food supply is, the more variety of birds you'll see in your garden. Also you can help birds out by placing bird feeders in your yard filling them with a high quality seed that is balanced in nutrition. The type of food you feed attracts different kinds of birds. Smaller seeds like thistle seed attract bright yellow gold finches. Larger birds like to perch on feeders and eat mixes of seed with an all time favourite being sunflower seed. In addition to putting out feeders, you can also grow plants that bloom and produce fruit, seeds or nuts attracting even more birds to your backyard. When possible, use plants that are native to your area. Many perennials, grasses, vines, shrubs and trees provide food for birds. The following perennials provide seeds or nectar: · Black-Eyed Susan (seeds) · Coneflower (seeds) · Fireweed (nectar) · Phlox (nectar) · Sunflower (seeds) (NC)--Following another long Canadian winter, many homeowners are happily attacking spring cleaning tasks around the house. The cleaning doesn't have to stop at airing out the house, tidying up the ideas with Direct Energy, suggests devoting a little of your spring energy towards some preventative plumbing maintenance as well. Give the drain a break One of the simplest tasks is making sure your drains remain efficient and free of any clogs, and it only takes a few seconds. To purge unwanted build-up, pour a cup of baking soda followed by a cup of vinegar down your drains. Wait a minute or so and rinse the drain with two quarts of boiling water. Fast, effective AND environmentally friendly. This doesn't have to be a once a year exercise either, Dave suggests doing this on a monthly basis. Using a drain strainer in the bathroom sink and tub will keep debris like hair and soap from clogging the pipes. Nip drips and leaks in taps and toilets This is the time to start fresh if you have dripping taps, or a leaky toilet. According to Environment Canada, toilets and leaking taps are the largest water wasters in the home. One leaky tap could send several thousand litres of water down the drain in a year. But it's the toilet that ranks as the home's biggest water waster, with flushing accounting for 30 per cent of the daily home water usage. Everything but the kitchen sink A common mistake many peo- An Oakville Beaver Special Feature Spring cleaning for your pipes ple make is disposing of grease in the sink or down the toilet. Once the grease cools, it hardens and clings to the inside of the drain pipe. Additional debris that sneaks down the drain will stick to the greasy walls, eventually building up and blocking the pipe. If you haven't already, start a new practice this spring and pour cooking grease into a heat-resistant container for storage and disposal. Review garbage disposal practices To ensure your garbage disposal unit continues to work at optimum level, review what should and shouldn't go down the drain. Putting the wrong items down can also lead to blocked drains and reduce the lifespan of the unit. CABINET REFACING TRANSFORM YOUR EXISTING KITCHEN TO YOUR DREAM KITCHEN! go fro less t m th ha n this for to nk is ou thi y BEFORE SAVE UP TO $ WITH THE NEW HOME RENOVATION TAX CREDIT 529 SPEERS ROAD, OAKVILLE 1350 1-888-350-8752 W W W. G R A N I T E T R A N S F O R M AT I O N S . C O M W W W. G R A N I T E T R A N S F O R M AT I O N S . C A 41