I have found 9-pound bags of a mix of mostly millet with some sunflower seed and, I think, safflower seed, at a dollar-type store here called Big Lots. $7 per bag. Birds gobble it up in winter, but in the winter they'll eat anything; in the spring they are picky, kicking out the milo for the pigeons and doves, so I stop feeding them and concentrate on hummingbirds and, this year, suet for Ladderback and Downy woodpeckers. Also I have nyger thistle feeders (both metal mesh feeder and sock feeder) out for our sweet, tiny lesser goldfinches. To complete my first post in this forum, I spotted and got pictures of a male Northern Cardinal this morning, a rare sighting for our area (Albuquerque). A similar male bird (the same one??) was reported a few miles further north back in February. I also photographed a rare Vermillion Flycatcher in April. Maybe more birds are moving into my state -- and I'll have figure out how to feed them if they visit my apartment complex :)

It took the birds 6 months to find my nyjer feeder when I first put it out. When they finally found it, the goldfinches attracted other birds to my other feeders. I had them hanging off the bottom of our seldom-used 2nd story deck, so they were semi-shaded. I also made a "bird bath" out of a boot tray - it was less than an inch deep and a good 2' long and about 16" wide. It was black, so I wouldn't put something like that out in the sun. I changed the water and scrubbed it out every day, and "sterilized" with vinegar (and rinsed and scrubbed again) about once a week. I sterilized the scrub brush in a bucket of bleach water overnight before sterilizing the "bird bath" the next day, so that the brush was fresh and clean for the post-vinegar-bath scrubbing. So - the night before, on cleaning day - I dump and scrub the bird bath; then fill it with vinegar; put the brush in the bleach water. Next morning, dump the bleach water and the vinegar thoroughly rinse the brush and let it dry in the sun (helps drive off any remaining chlorine). scrub out with the sterilized brush Thoroughly rinse the bird bath; start over again This winter I hope to make a large ceramic platter (I'm an amateur potter) with a glazed interior that will tolerate being sterilized with a bleach solution. I plan to bury that to it's lip in one of my raised beds and keep it filled with water via a dripper line. I'll make something similar for use as a butterfly puddler. Having a water feature can only help in attracting birds, but patience will help as well. One thing I would suggest is to get rid of the "songbird mix" and feed only black oil sunflower seed, safflower seed, and nyjer (in a tube feeder), in the way of seed. Every "songbird mix" I've ever seen has a high proportion of "junk" seed in it which attracts house sparrows, to your peril. At my former residence, they weren't much of a problem, but here they have mobbed my feeder to the point where I had to stop using it. They even scared my hummers away, as well as the mountain jays, mountain blue birds, and quail. Sadly, their seed scattering ways seemed to actually ATTRACT pigeons, LOL! I'm going to try to put the sunflower seed (which has to be hulled due to the former owner of this place having put in Astroturf - impossible to clean sunflower hulls out of) in a mesh feeder that only clingers can use and see if that helps. Otherwise, it's hummingbird feeders and the quail block, and the nyjer mesh feeders I have, and that's all I'll be able to put out here. Maybe an upside-down tube feeder. But nothing for the house sparrows!

Just emailed my Nashville daughter to see if she has a recommendation. She had tile installed and as far as I know was happy. We're just starting a house South of Nashville so I need the answer to this question, too! I'll let you know . . .

Absolutely embrace the warm weather zoysia. Nashville is in the transition zone, meaning both northern and southern grasses can thrive there; however, with the Earth warming, you should start to favor the southern grasses. Fescue does not spread, at all. Zoysia will, as you've seen. If you want the zoysia to spread faster, take plugs from your own lawn to ensure you have exactly the same variety of grass. Speedwell is a problem for fescue, but should not be a problem for the zoysia. Mow the zoysia at the mower's highest setting. If the speedwell is not choked out by the density of the zoysia, you might need to spray something. Generally, if your front yard is not looking great, that indicates a watering problem. You should be watering deeply and infrequently. Deeply means 1 inch all at one time. Measure an inch with your watch. Put out some tuna or cat food cans and turn on the sprinkler(s). Time how long it takes to fill all the cans. That is 1 inch of water. Use that time every time you water. Infrequently means don't water every day, or even every week for most of the year. As a general rule, deep water once a month when the temps are below 70 degrees F. With temps between 70 and 80, water once every 3 weeks. With temps between 80 and 90, water every other week. With temps between 90 and 100, water once a week. With temps from 100 to 105, water once every 5 days. You don't have to worry about higher temps, but the point is deep watering and not all the time.