Is it a shrub, is it a tree, no it's …

[LMcD]

Quite fun to use, anyway



Yes - it costs nothing to wait and takes up very little space! I have now banished the neighbourhood cats from my back garden and have ordered two more trees (crataegus and malus) to go with another crataegus, a prunus, a euonymus and a sorbus, in the hope that with no cats I shall be able to attract some birds.

Having recently witnessed the aftermath of the murder of a pigeon in our garden, I'd be gratetful for any tips on how to banish our own particular neighbourhood moggie, which walks through our garden as though he/she owns it!

[french frank]

Having recently witnessed the aftermath of the murder of a pigeon in our garden, I'd be gratetful for any tips on how to banish our own particular neighbourhood moggie, which walks through our garden as though he/she owns it!

Depends how big your garden is I have tried Scoot, lion dung, pigeon spikes all the way round the fence (£200) - all useless.

I have now installed a small "shelf" around the perimeter, set about 2" below the top of the fence. It is a strip of plastic trellis, about 6" wide which confronts the cats when they stand on top of the fence. If they try to place a paw on it it wobbles, so instead of being able to scramble up the other side of the fence and scramble down my side, they would have to hurl themselves out over the shelf and fall about 7ft. The thought appears to have deterred them, though if they were to try it I don't know how they would get out again (I have a nightmare that one morning I shall go out and find nine cats in the back yard - all of whom had braved the leap and drop and then been unable to get out again. With luck, though, they might have all fought each other to the death.

The shelf is supported by 6" lengths of dowelling + corner brace affixed at intervals. Three screws protruding on the top of the dowelling allow the shelf to be pulled tight.© 2018

When we had the snow recently the test came - not a paw mark anywhere. And all very humane

[greenilex]

Feline notions of ownership are complicated and not at all human, I would suggest.

[oddoneout]

Having recently witnessed the aftermath of the murder of a pigeon in our garden, I'd be gratetful for any tips on how to banish our own particular neighbourhood moggie, which walks through our garden as though he/she owns it!

Water pistols can be helpful discouragement if you are around enough to implement it - if nothing else the moggies tend to become a bit more wary if they have been caught often enough. Exclusion is generally unrealistic, so try thinking about how to make more areas in the garden safer from cats for the birds to escape to - dense bushes, feeders in a clear space away from launchpads for feline launchpads etc. The RSPB website might have something of use?

[oddoneout]

The following might be of use

https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-birch-seedling-4550529.html

https://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photo-young-birch-sapling-isolated-white-image33256795

[oddoneout]

Birch leaves do look similar.

http://www.treesbypost.co.uk/all-trees/downy-birch-f963?category=15

But as jean says the stem looks too fleshy. Also tree seedlings don’t have leaves from the base but have unmistakable tree trunks in miniature. Bush seedlings don’t have main stems. It looks more like some kind of begonia, and also as jean says, it will be another few weeks before it flowers if it is a plant.

The angle of the picture makes it difficult to see what the stem looks like with relation to the leaves , and if it is a birch it can take a while before a recognisable trunk emerges - and in some cases it will keep low branches even as it grows. I have a purchased silver birch(ver.jacquemontii) at the bottom of the garden now about 8' high which has two branches close to the ground, one less than 12" above soil level. As it's the white stems rather than the height I want I'll leave them, but cutting them off to leave a clear stem at planting time was an option. I wonder if being bushy at a young age is a survival strategy, as other pioneers such as rowan do it also the 'bushy trees' such as hazel, alder.

[french frank]

The angle of the picture makes it difficult to see what the stem looks like with relation to the leaves , and if it is a birch it can take a while before a recognisable trunk emerges - and in some cases it will keep low branches even as it grows. I have a purchased silver birch(ver.jacquemontii) at the bottom of the garden now about 8' high which has two branches close to the ground, one less than 12" above soil level.

My rowan had four low branches removed - all now less than 8" above the soil.

This picture may be a bit clearer - there are three roots coming of the stem very low down. The leaves have a slight downiness which doesn't look like a birch variety, though.

[doversoul1]

My rowan had four low branches removed - all now less than 8" above the soil.

This picture may be a bit clearer - there are three roots coming of the stem very low down. The leaves have a slight downiness which doesn't look like a birch variety, though.

It just doesn’t look like a tree to me. Where is umslopogaas, the forum’s expert botanist?

[Bryn]

My rowan had four low branches removed - all now less than 8" above the soil.

This picture may be a bit clearer - there are three roots coming of the stem very low down. The leaves have a slight downiness which doesn't look like a birch variety, though.

Downy Birch:



The leaf base lacks the indentation of your plant.

[jean]

The leaves have a slight downiness which doesn't look like a birch variety, though.

They look too hairy, I was going to say.

And isn't the stem (if that's the right word) of a birch leaf much finer?

As Bryn has just illustrated!

[french frank]

So. A matter of Wait and See. Yes, where is umslopogaas?

[Bryn]

If a birch, the slightly cordate shape would suggest a white birch, but I still doubt its a tree at all:

[french frank]

If a birch, the slightly cordate shape would suggest a white birch, but I still doubt its a tree at all

I have to confess the only reason I mentioned a tree in the first place was the 'shrub, tree, superweed' pleasantry

[Serial_Apologist]

Feline notions of ownership are complicated and not at all human, I would suggest.

Tabbytorial.

[jayne lee wilson]

Having recently witnessed the aftermath of the murder of a pigeon in our garden, I'd be gratetful for any tips on how to banish our own particular neighbourhood moggie, which walks through our garden as though he/she owns it!

That'd be unusually large prey for a kitty... sure it wasn't a Sparrowhawk? (roughly circular plucked feathers around corpse)...
I've only once seen a cat catch a pigeon, and that was a weakened bird the tabby brought down with an athletic leap during take-off...