From some readers’ letters, there appears to be a huge misunderstanding about the role of birds in our gardens. To set the record straight, birds are not the enemy, but are a gardener’s friend.

Undeniably, birds will devour or ruin fruit crops unless the trees/bushes are completely encased in protective netting. But the claim that birds pull grass out by its roots, thus totally destroying an established lawn, is not true.

A reader in Multan maintains that a pair of hoopoe birds, who visit her garden regularly, has systematically decimated the lawn she had laid down, at least 12 years ago.

What this pair of beautiful birds will have been doing as they stride up and down the lawn in early morning and then evening light, is to extract and eat the fat, white larvae of chafer beetles, along with wireworms, rootworms, root maggots, etc. All of these seem to specialise in wiping out lawns while chafer beetles gobble up grass roots at an incredible rate.

The long, slightly curved bill of the hoopoe has evolved so that the bird can, after cocking its head to one side as it listens to what is going on beneath the soil surface, pierce the soil and grab its intended prey all in one sleek manoeuvre.

Birds not only fill our gardens with song and activity, they are important and beneficial to the garden’s ecosystem

Unfortunately, the lawn was/is so heavily infested with root-eating bugs that a single pair of hoopoes has not managed to totally eradicate the pests. Instead of wanting to know how to keep these birds away, the reader who submitted this question would be far better off learning how to encourage far more hoopoes — along with other assorted birds of course — to call her garden home.

Then there is the gentleman in Karachi who wants to know how to prevent humming birds from building — what he considers to be — unsightly, hanging nests in the bougainvillaea cascading over his boundary wall.

Firstly, we do not have hummingbirds in Pakistan. What we have are beautiful purple sunbirds, whose delicately woven, hanging nests, are an architectural work of wonder to be admired rather than complained about. The number of these graceful, nectar-sipping, tiny birds is sadly dwindling in our cities and they should be encouraged, not scorned. How I wish they would build nests in my bougainvillaea too.

Ring-necked parakeets, whistling and screeching while they raid your ripe papayas, shrilly argumentative shariks letting rip on your balcony, flocks of chirryaas feasting on caterpillars and aphids in the vegetable and flower beds, all have a role to play in the natural world of which home gardening is just one of many parts.

Our feathered friends deserve all the help and respect they can get if they are to survive the harshness of life in our inner-cities.

Seed sowing guide for April

The flower garden: Zinnias, sunflowers, Californian poppies, cosmos, gomphrena, cockscomb amaranthus, celosia, gaillardia, rudbeckia, salpiglossis, nicotiana, matricaria, petunias, French and African marigolds, tagetes, coreopsis, tithonia, mesembryanthemums, carnations, pelargoniums, buzzy-lizzies and flax/alsi are just some of the gorgeous flowers to sow this month for a stunning summer garden.

The vegetable garden: Hot-weather lettuce varieties, endive, chicory, radicchio, Swiss chard/leaf beet, spinach, Japanese and Chinese mixed salad leaves, Mesclun salad mixes, tomatoes, capsicums, cucumbers, radish and crisp French radish. Then there are aubergines, cayenne peppers, pimentos, bitter gourd/karela, okra/bhindi, green onions, climbing beans, bush beans, open-hearted cabbage and summer cauliflower. Sweet corn is always worth growing, as are courgettes/zucchini, marrows, pumpkins, spaghetti squash and other kinds of summer squash too. Sweet potato slips can also go in this month, as can fenugreek and ginger.

Summer fruits: Chinese gooseberries, melons and watermelons, plus propagate pineapple tops for a juicy reward in 2- or 3-years’ time.

The herb garden: Lots of nasturtiums, chillies, coriander, borage, basil, chives, garlic chives, rocket/arugula, calendulas, aniseed, summer savoury, lemon grass, dill, feverfew, chervil and turmeric.

Fruit tree of the month: Annona squamosal/ sharifa/custard apple/sugar apple is a small tree usually grown from seed. This popular warm-to-hot-climate fruit tree can begin fruiting at the age of 3-4 years. It enjoys full sun or partial shade and makes a good ‘under canopy’ tree in a food forest. Soil should be light and well drained, drainage being essential as this tree cannot stand water-logging around its roots. Should be given a good feed of liquid fertiliser, preferably organic, every 3 months to maintain vigour and fruiting capacity. Any dead, diseased or damage wood should be cut out but, aside from this, no pruning is required. An excellent fruit tree for small gardens in southern and coastal regions of the country.

Please continue sending your gardening queries to zahrahnasir@hotmail.com. Remember to include your location. The writer does not respond directly by email. Emails with attachments will not be opened

Published in Dawn, EOS, April 3rd, 2022