You could use a no mess type seed = like shelled peanuts with sunflower hearts. Or you can bake your seed on a shallow cookie sheet in the oven at 350 for 15-20 minutes but that really stinks up the kitchen and it's a pain in the neck if you use alot of seed. Mulch really heavily under the feeder so if seed sprouts you can just lightly rake the mulch to dislodge the seedlings and they will die. I have a feeder I got at Wild Birds Unlimited that is for "clingers only" and is for sunflower seeds. Only small birds can use that feeder and they have to take a seed and fly to a branch somewhere to eat it. That keeps alot of the hulls from piling up under the feeder too. Otherwise, you just have to be diligent about raking under the feeder every week to keep the sprouts from getting big.

I have numerous bird feeders on a stand and I simply pull or mow the spouts. Ground feeders will get the majority of the spilled seeds, and I love to watch them enough to clean up the mess. Since yours is in a flower bed, you could also sprinkle that area with weed preventor to keep the seeds from germinating - if after reading on the bag, you find it is not harmful to birds. I have not checked that out.

We had the same problem--unwanted plants under the feeder. We simply moved the feeder into the lawn, and the mowing took care of the sprouts.

I attracted RATS!!!! EEEKKK! So I planted natural bird food for spring/summer/fall and only offer food in winter. I mow seedlings too. PJ

Yikes. I saw a squirrel the other day feasting and tried to show it to the dog so that he could chase it back through the fence (wrought iron), but my dog is not the brightest.

So you guys stake the feeder in your lawn and then have to take it up each time you mow? I guess that might be easier than pulling up the mini-lawn...

Thanks for the tidbits!

We have the feeder hanging on a shepherd's hook, and we don't take it up each time we mow. We simply mow around it, and about every other mowing, we weed-whack around the pole.

Shepard's hook here too. PJ

Use only sunflower seed, add pepper corns to it get a camera birds dont have taste buds squirls do they put on a show

The messy birds don't bother me, its the rats. My bird feeder is near a wall and several weeks ago I found a large dead rat in my flower bed next to the wall. The wall has french drain openings from the yard behind. I'd noted dirt around the openings and spotted a "path" from the closest opening to the feeder. We had field mice last winter, so I was thinking mice. The day before yesterday I sprayed water up the french drain and apparently flushed out 3 juvenile rats. How do I trap the rats without hurting the birds? We used mouse traps and peanut butter when the mice were in the garage, but won't the birds go for the peanut butter in the traps?

I have quite a few bird feeders, two of which are on shepherd's hooks in flower beds. I used black oil sunflower seeds at first, but got millions of baby sunflowers. As a result, I have switched those feeder to the no mess seed purchased from Wild Birds Unlimited. Even though our Wild Birds store went out of business last year, I still use that seed. I get my daughter in Houston to bring me 6 bags at a time. I sure miss that store. For the rests of my feeders which hang from trees over grassy areas, I still use the black oil sunflower seeds. The mower now takes care of the babies.

You can bake your seed for a few minutes and it kills the seed's ability to germinate. Still edible for the birds (& squirrels) but won't produce seedlings when it hits the ground.

Our birdfeeder is on a 4x4 post anchored in the ground with a squirrel/racoon baffle. I only use black sunflower seed. The birds eat at the top, the squirrels eat on the ground underneath, and we just weedeat any that might sprout. It works well for us.

I use only the black oil sunflower seeds and my bird feeder is in a shady area. The sunflowers don't seem to be able to germinate when they fall on the mulch in that much shade. It's been hassle-free. I got sick of pulling sunflowers when I had the feeder in a sunny area.

Randy

We went to Wild Birds Unlimited and bought a special kind of hulled and cracked bird seed that won't germinate. It's more expensive, but worth it.

I have a bird feeder on a pole with a baffle to prevent squirrels from getting to the seed. Underneath the feeder are 3' high evergreen shrubs and in front of those various perennials: lantana, plumbago, salvias. And in amongst those, a low bird bath. I keep the whole area heavily mulched. About once a month, I carefully spray round up on the weeds.
The round up has never harmed my plants which currently looks jungley and by using round up instead of pulling, the mulch is not disturbed. This has worked for 8 years. In the spring and fall, I mulch again and plant annuals too.

Black sunflower seed produces the least amount of weeds. The millet stuff is a nightmare and brings in large, undesirable birds to the feeder.

I would sprinkle corn gluten meal underneath the feeder every spring and fall. It's not a chemical so if you needed to sprinkle more often it would be safe.

Pam

this is what ive also been looking for information on this and I think im going to go with the special bird seeds for my feeder great post.

Here is a link that might be useful: Discount Bird Feeders