SRSeedBurners Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 GreycieMae's Mansion is coming along...slowly. Need to update the aviary thread but we now have the top up with the wire. I've planted winter rye for now which will displace the weeds for this winter. I'm looking for ideas for a trees/shrubs that are parrot safe and will provide some perching. Got any ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvparrots Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 Would love to see some pictures of the aviary as it is coming along. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRSeedBurners Posted September 23, 2014 Author Share Posted September 23, 2014 I'll update GreycieMae's Aviary thread with pics tonight - if I can remember. Where do Jave tree playstands come from? When I search Java Tree online I get a bunch of Java programming language crap. I need something that will stay within about 6-8 feet in height and has some medium sized horizontal branching for the birdys to perch. Paging Muse: do you know what Project Perry uses? Do they have any live trees/shrubs in use or is it all non-live stuff: ropes, branches etc? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KimKim Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 How about bamboo or smaller palm trees. For the bottom you can plant ferns and nasturtium flower plants. Nasturtium can climb the wire too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KimKim Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 And grapes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRSeedBurners Posted September 23, 2014 Author Share Posted September 23, 2014 I like the idea of Bamboo because of how sturdy and fast growing, but the shoots are straight up vertical - no good perching options. Will have to look into a palm tree. Trying to stay away from grapes/climbing plants as I don't want it in the wire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acappella Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 When I was looking for big pieces of java wood for Dorian's playstand I went to a couple of pet stores that sold it and found out the names of the companies that sell it. Here in Canada it was 'Beaks!'. I found a store that would give me 5% off because I was buying a lot of big pieces. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murfchck Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 Bamboo will take over! It is a plant weed that never grows where you plant it and it never dies! Lol. I want to plant a nut tree, almond or walnut or even pecan. It will take time to get to the top of the aviary though and in the mean time she will have perching and foraging! Just my pipe dream. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muse Posted September 29, 2014 Share Posted September 29, 2014 I'll update GreycieMae's Aviary thread with pics tonight - if I can remember. Where do Jave tree playstands come from? When I search Java Tree online I get a bunch of Java programming language crap. I need something that will stay within about 6-8 feet in height and has some medium sized horizontal branching for the birdys to perch. Paging Muse: do you know what Project Perry uses? Do they have any live trees/shrubs in use or is it all non-live stuff: ropes, branches etc? It is live, much of it. I know Matt tops off many of the younger trees and they continue to send branches out. I don't know what all of them are but I do know one is river birch, however not sure that would grow where you are. They need a lot of water. They are AWESOME trees though. We had ours trimmed (unwillingly by Asplundh) and I have a ton of branches I made them save. Too bad you don't live closer! I'd share! Let me see what I can find out about what kind of trees they have in the aviaries at Project Perry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdhouse Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 River Birch does well around here & it doesn't need a crazy amount of water. I don't know if it would be happy in the kind of droughts you guys get, though. And yes, many, many bamboo species are invasive. But there are some that aren't. If you want to keep bamboo, either do some research &/or keep it in planters so the roots are contained. The only think I'd kind of worry about planting the aviary is critters. Especially snakes. Would it be better to plant hanging planters higher up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kins2321@yahoo.com Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 I LOVE how everyone is excited and want to help with the aviary! While I am clueless.... I DO have resources. LOL! Unfortunately, probably don't have time until after my vacation. Leaving Saturday Nancy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chezron Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 Are there native species of willow where you live? I know they are non-toxic and you can cut them back with no problem. They do like water though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chezron Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 (edited) Also, I know Crepe Myrtle grows where you live and those work too. I know you have seen them pruned into sticks and they still come back. Butterfly bush, Crab Apple, Fig Tree, Sweet gum, Viburnum, and Pine would all work and are non-toxic. All of these plants I listed are non-toxic to birds. Edited October 11, 2014 by chezron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muse Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 I'll update GreycieMae's Aviary thread with pics tonight - if I can remember. Where do Jave tree playstands come from? When I search Java Tree online I get a bunch of Java programming language crap. I need something that will stay within about 6-8 feet in height and has some medium sized horizontal branching for the birdys to perch. Paging Muse: do you know what Project Perry uses? Do they have any live trees/shrubs in use or is it all non-live stuff: ropes, branches etc? I know I sent this before via Facebook, but I thought maybe I should add it here as well to benefit others reading this thread. Here was what Matt replied regarding trees: "I recommend crape myrtles and river birch - those work real well and all you have to do is take a hand saw and cut them down before the greenery starts growing again in the spring. A butterfly bush works nicely too." My note on this - please remember when buying trees and bushes - get from an organic nursery as places like Lowes and Home Depot and Walmart get their plants from nurseries that use neonicotinoid pesticides (as well as other pesticides) that are bad for honeybees and probably just as bad for our birds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chezron Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 Good point on the neonicotinoids! Just read an article that says, environmentally, they are worse than DDT. I don't know about you but I rarely see bees anymore and it is so sad! You can start willows from cuttings very easily. River Birch are beautiful trees. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRSeedBurners Posted October 13, 2014 Author Share Posted October 13, 2014 So we have a couple of crape myrtles that aren't doing so well as they were planted too close under a couple of other that really took off. Wife wants me to dig them up and transplant them into the aviary. Our only concern is they have this common black 'stuff' on them. All knowing Google has led me to the fact that this stuff is known as 'sooty mold' and is a type of fungus growing on the leftovers from aphids and other insects. I also found the white powdery stuff we occasionally see on the plants is a mildew. We have a Jardines which are particularly susceptible to aspergillosis. Not sure I want to expose the little guy to all this extraneous stuff that can get something going in him. I wish it didn't get below 30 here as I'd love to plant a butterfly bush in there.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chezron Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 Hey Sterling! You can get rid of the sooty mold easily by washing it off with a heavy stream of water. This also washes off the aphids or other sucking insects. Do you mean 30 degrees F? Butterfly bushes will come back from frost. I had a huge one in Georgia and it got down to 10F. You live in Oklahoma right? It should be fine there. Mulch your plants and water them deeply when you water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRSeedBurners Posted October 13, 2014 Author Share Posted October 13, 2014 Oklahoma!!! Why, I ought to wash your beak out.... (haahaa, sorry JeffNOK & Gracie). GreycieMae is a Texan - hatched and raised here. I'm a transplant from New Mexico married to an Australian that was born in Arizona. Now how confusing is that! I was playing with the black stuff on the crape myrtles yesterday after wifely proposed transplanting them. Wanted to see just what the black stuff was. I was surprised how easily it just flaked off leaving clean wood underneath. If Project Perry uses them I guess it's bound to be safe. We'll have a stab at the butterfly bush too then. We rarely see anything below 30 here but this last freak winter it stayed in the high teens/low 20s for a few days. Gahhh...more digging..... I spent half of yesterday digging a trench around the aviary for the anti-dig wire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muse Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 Uh oh. I have a butterfly bush here. It *supposedly* was supposed to be okay in this zone to live through the winter. Time will tell. I'll let you know. Crape myrtles can take a SERIOUS cutting back. You can clean the bare branches with water and a natural soap then give them a good rinse before transplanting. I'd wait for them to go dormant (drop leaves) give them a good hack job as far back as possible. If you look here: http://www.crapemyrtle.com/pruning.html you can see how severe the pruning can be. I'd then take a soft brush and some natural soap to any remaining bark with black on it to remove the mold that is left, then keep the aphids at bay. Ladybugs are great aphid control to prevent recurrence. I bring crape myrtle in as a natural foraging toy for the birds, and I just scrub it off in the sink or pick off the leaves if it is stubborn (it's the flowers they want). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chezron Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 Sorry I got your state wrong. I know how Texans are... Just want to add my two cents since I work in the biz. If you just want a tree you can hack back and don't care about what it looks like, by all means, hack away. Because crepe myrtles bloom on new wood people have gotten confused and assume that if they don't cut off all of the branches that they will not bloom well--that is not true. You can destroy the form and health of a tree when you "hat-rack" it and cut it severely back to nubs. Then it sends up weak-wooded water sprouts and that are easily damaged and structurally ugly. All sooty mold is, is the sugary droppings from aphids, or other Hemiptera, that attract a black mold. They are easily washed off. Powdery mildew, on the other hand is caused by placing a tree in less than full sun. Also there are varieties that have been bred to be mildew resistant they have an Indian name like 'Hopi' or 'Natchez.' Here is a photo of bad pruning on this website. Also, I did not mean to be preachy in any way just informative. http://southernlivingthedailysouth.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/crepe-murder.jpg?w=640&h=484 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRSeedBurners Posted October 14, 2014 Author Share Posted October 14, 2014 I'll probably end up trimming them to keep them small enough to keep them inside the aviary wire. When's the best time to transplant them? We're both sold on the fact that they'll be safe for the birds. Add a butterfly bush or bottle brush and we'll be set for inside the aviary. This last weekend I moved some of their things in the aviary since I wanted them out with me while I worked on it: boings, orbits, climbing rope. Can't believe how big the aviary is. The climbing rope, when in their bird room, goes all the way across the room. In the aviary, it will barely reach across and doesn't if you angle it at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRSeedBurners Posted October 16, 2014 Author Share Posted October 16, 2014 On the ride home tonight I spotted what looks to me like the perfect aviary tree. Anyone know what these are and if they are safe? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murfchck Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 I always called them Plumeria. I have only seen one, before now, that is that large if that is what they are. I am going to search on the internet and see if that is what it could be. They get beautiful flowers on them and I had one for a few years until the sudden, unexpected freeze last year took it's poor life. :-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRSeedBurners Posted October 16, 2014 Author Share Posted October 16, 2014 You're right, they are a Plumeria. They have blooms which the Hawaiians used to make the Leis. Looks like there are a couple of cultivars that are able to withstand upper 30s. May have to keep them potted and move them into the garage during the hard cold snaps. Hrrmmmmm. They have the exact branch structure I'm looking for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greywings Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 Plumeria or Frangipani (same plant ) is mildly toxic- Plumeria: This widespread plant is mildly poisonous, ingesting leaves or flowers can irritate the digestive tract. It's the sap that's irritating and can cause a rash. Any plant with a milky sap is not a good idea. There are dwarf Crape Myrtles available that will remain a small size. Roses are non toxic and the flowers are eatable, Nasturtiums also and they can climb the wire for shade. You might consider growing some veggies or grains where she can graze. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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