What’s This Post About?
Spring’s the season of fresh bloom and lush green plantations. This time of the year is best if you’re looking to revamp your lawn, and invite colorful exotic birds over for a fresh drink of water.
Birdbaths are the best way to attract the sort of birds to your backyard that may otherwise not come to feeders. To understand how to install a birdbath, we must first figure out why we need one in the first place.
To install a birdbath, all you need to do is to pick the perfect location and dig a hole, place your bath’s pedestal in this hole, attach the bowl, and adjust the height and depth of the bath to maintain maximum stability. Once done, your birdbath is installed.
Why Use a Bird Bath?
A birdbath is very beneficial to any bird that would pass by your lawn. Birds whether they migrate or not, always require a pit stop to rest before they can carry on flying towards their destination.
Most birds require a stop on their journey to take a bath or have some water before continuing their travel. For this purpose, birdbaths are not only a good way to invite birds to play around in your lawn for a bit, but they are also a refreshing resting spot for birds that may not necessarily use your bird feeders.
For details on how to install a birdbath, read through the basic 5 steps, and get yourself a beautiful garden ornament and a bird resting spot.
How to Install a Bird Bath?
To install the bird bath, you must pick the best spot for the bath, create a foundation. Then you must set up the bird bath and make sure it is stable enough to stand firm.
1. Pick the Best Spot!
Choose the birdbath location wisely as this will play a significant role in attracting birds to your yard or lawn.
Picking the best place to position your birdbath is easy. Simply follow the considerations given below to make sure that the birdbath is the birds favorite resting spot:
- Make sure your birdbath is installed on level ground.
- Keep it 6 to 10 feet away from bushes. Birds won’t come to birdbaths that are close to predator birds.
- Install it near a tree for shade.
- Keep it at a certain distance from feeders. This is to prevent seeds from falling into the bath.
- Make sure the birdbath is in the aerial view of the birds, a hidden bath may be difficult to spot.
2. Place The Foundation!
The foundation requires a stable hole to be dug up in the ground where the birdbath can be installed. This is a key factor to ensure the successful installation of a birdbath.
Placing any garden ornament directly on soil is difficult as there is a tendency for it to lean to one side. Therefore, the next step is create a stable foundation.
To build a stable foundation in the soil, it is important to first make sure there is no vegetation around that area.
Clear out any grass or shrubs from the area that you plan to place your birdbath in. Once cleared, you can begin to create the firm ground on which your birdbath will rest.
The second thing to do is to dig a hole. This hole should be approximately the same in diameter as the foot end of your birdbath. Try to make sure this hole is slightly deep so that the ground can act as a sufficient anchor for your birdbath.
For a lighter bath, this may be about 2 to 3 inches deep but for a heavier bath, you may need to dig about 4 or more inches.
3. Setting up the Bath!
Place the pedestal firmly in the soil where the hole was dug for a successful installation.
Now, that the hole has been dug, you can begin to place the pedestal depending on how you would like to place it. There are two ways to place your birdbath pedestal.
You can either place it underground or above ground.
If you wish to place it underground, please place the pedestal in the hole that you have dug up. Then secure it by filling up the rest of the hole and the gaps around the pedestal with soil. Fill up till the ground is leveled.
But if you would like to place your bath above the ground, you can fill up this hole with either sand or gravel. Once filled, you can place the pedestal on top of this.
If you’re worried that after placement the bath may tilt, you can always remove it, and place more gravel on the opposite side of the direction of tilt, until the bath appears to be balanced.
4. Adjust the Height and Depth!
The height of the birdbath and how deep the hole has been dug play an important role in successfully installing the birdbath.
Adjusting the height of the birdbath can be a bit tricky. The most ideal height for a birdbath is around 1 foot. This is neither too low, to make the birds susceptible to attack by predators, nor too high for you to be unable to clean it easily.
The depth of the birdbath is also very crucial. Small birds are usually unable to reach the water level by being perched up on the edge of the bath. The water seems too low from the rim of the bowl, and too deep from the bowl itself.
For this reason, it is imperative to buy a birdbath that has a shallower bowl so that the birds may not drown while they sit in the water for a bath or to enjoy a drink.
Pro-Tip
If your birdbath is too deep, you can also add stones to the puddle of water to both raise the water level and to provide a platform for the birds to perch up against.
While hanging bird baths are usually too high to clean, and pedestal birdbaths are too deep for small birds to have water through, it can be difficult finding the right kind of birdbath.
If you are looking for a perfect birdbath, consider purchasing the VIVOHOME Outdoor Garden Bird Bath.
I recommend this beautiful birdbath that will beautify your garden and hydrate the birds!
5. Stabilize the Bird Bath
The birdbath should be stably attached to the ground!
To stabilize your birdbath, there are a couple of things you need to do.
Fill your bath with water and check the water level closely. If the water levels seem to be greater on one side and lower on the other, it means your birdbath is not balanced.
Fix this by either making sure that the ground beneath the birdbath is flat or by adding weight to the side of the birdbath that has a lower water level.
You can do this by adding anchors. Other animals such as cats can jump on or around the birdbath in an attempt to prey on birds. An unstable birdbath will fall as a result of these forces. By tying anchors around the bath, you can prevent this from happening.
Alternatively, there are two more ways you can stabilize the birdbath. The first way involves using stones. Stones can be placed around the base of the birdbath once its set up, to weigh the bath down, this will prevent it from tipping over or falling when met with sudden, strong forces.
Also, if the base of your birdbath pedestal has a hole in the center, you can place metal rebar firmly in the soil, and place the pedestal carefully above it so that the metal bar is positioned in the center hole. This is the best way to maintain stability in your birdbath.
How Can We Keep the Bird Bath Clean?
Clean the bath regularly with a thistle brush, or use safe chemical components to clean the water. It is also imperative to change the water daily.
Birdbaths require ample cleaning and maintenance to make sure birds keep visiting the bath and so that it remains true to their needs.
Birds usually sit in the birdbath and while they may be taking a bath, they may accidentally drop seeds or feces into the bowl. Depending on the location of the bath, it may also be more prone to mold and algae.
Once the water becomes contaminated in this way, it can be severely fatal for birds to drink from this bath.
Warning
While using chemicals, make sure to not leave your birdbath unattended as substances containing bleach can be fatal to birds if left in the water.
For maintenance, it should be noted that birdbaths don’t require much maintenance during the warmer months. However, you may want to move your concrete bird baths inside for the winters to prevent the formation of cracks.
If you’d like to keep the bath outside for birds all year long, you can buy bird bath heating devices to keep the temperature maintained in the structure of the bath. You can explore the GESAIL Birdbath Heater if you’re interested in achieving this.
This birdbath heater will keep the standard birdbath from freezing in winter, thermostatically controlled to operate only when necessary!
Keep Reading!
In 5 easy steps, you just learned how to install a birdbath! You need to pick a suitable spot for the birdbath, clear the area, create a foundation and place the birdbath on top of it. It is crucial to balance the birdbath and make it stable!
However, remember that setting it up is not the only thing you need to consider. Birdbaths require regular clean-up to make sure you provide fresh, clean water for the birds. Keep your birdbaths away from the feeders too, in case feeder birds become territorial about their space and drive away other birds.
For more information on other lawn ornaments, you can read our blog on the best bird feeders for hummingbirds.
Are you a hummingbird lover? Make this adorable little bird visit your garden by adding one of these top-rated feeders to your backyard.
By
David A. Swanson
Bird Watching USA
My name is David and I'm the the founder of Bird Watching USA! I started Bird Watching with My father-in-law many years ago, and I've become an addict to watching these beautiful creatures. I've learnt so much over about bird watching over the years that I want to share with the world everything I know about them!
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