Keep Bird Feeders Tidy with Patio Stone

I love having a bird feeder. Ours is placed just outside the living room. The entire family enjoys watching the wildlife it attracts. Acrobatic squirrels entertain our cat and dog for hours. However, the downside of having a bird feeder is the mess it makes all over the ground underneath it. It seems I'm constantly pulling up weeds that sprout. To combat this issue, I decided to use patio stone underneath the feeder. The patio stone helps to keep the seeds from sprouting and gives it a decorative look.

I shopped around at my local Lowe's for patio stone and chose one that would suit the purpose, and add character to my bird feeder. The area under my feeder is small, so I only needed 4 pieces. I paid less than $5 for the stones.

We cleaned out the area under the feeder, measured where the stone would be placed, and began to dig. We dug a little bit deeper then the depth of the stones and a little wider. Then we positioned the shepherds hook that I hang my feeder on in the hole and put down a layer of sand. I then placed my patio block on top. We filled in the cracks around the stone pieces with more sand and a little bit of pea gravel.

I put the stone in around 3 months ago and it has helped a lot. Sure, seeds still spout occasionally  here and there, but it is a definite improvement. Before I had to dig up all the debris from under the feeder, now I can just sweep it away. Its so much easier to keep the area clean, not to mention how pretty it looks.