The Aviary, approximately 7 metres long and 6 metres wide at its widest end and on a sloping area of ground with a fall of about 30 cms from front to back and 20 cms from side to side and situated over a large fish pond was a challenge I was relishing…not.
All the advice was telling me, don't mix bird types, don't include a pond.
I considered it all of course, and yes I know, some birds can be aggressive, so I will stay away from those but in an aviary of this size approximately 25 sq metres my conclusion was that there is enough room for the various bird types to get along just fine.
I realised that I would need to keep my eye on things for a while in the early days. The plan was to introduce all the birds together at the same time in the hope that any particularly dominant birds would be at the same disadvantage as the others.
And it's worked, so far. There is an occasional tussle or two, mainly occurring within the same type of bird but overall nothing too serious.
As for the pond, so far, so good. I have not positioned any roosting perches immediately above the pond, thereby eliminating the risk of contamination by way of the bird droppings.
The planting needed some research which was done online as I knew that some plants are poisonous to some birds.
Plants included.
Lonicera, Ficus, Mentha, Plectranthus, Tradscantia, Lysimachia, Ferns, to name a few, the ones I know but there are others that so far I have been unable to find an English name for, I'm working on it.
To be continued...
Two videos and a few still shots taken from the back of the electric bike being driven by my wife.
Sorry about the bit of wind rush noise and me trying to eat a chewy sweet and talk at the same time.
4 kilometres = Just under 2.5 miles and not 1.5 as I said.
Oh, and the BRICKS - They were still waiting to be planted and not already planted as I stated…
I'm pretty certain it’s the only one in Nanning Guangxi China.
And not only an aviary but a fish pond - bird aviary combination.
Against all advice I decided I just had to give it a go.
Some say, never mix fish ponds and bird aviaries together.
So, one day, in one corner of my wife's garden centre…we begun.
The pond, 3m x 2m and around 45cms deep at its deepest point in a pear like shape was already established. The fish were in and breeding, the water lily's were flowering along with other aquatic plants and also plenty of other pond life.
All making for a well balanced aquatic scene.
Easy peasy, it was just a matter of plonking an aviary over the top.
Well, not quite that simple but I decided to give it a go anyway.
Nana, my wife was in full support and between us in about 60 man/woman hours on and off over a two week period and just before the Chinese New Year it was finished.
First off, marking out and laying the foundation blocks, then…
To be continued...
Why do we end up 'not talking' well, let me explain.
The Chinese love to talk and purchasing something here can and often does become a social event. With my western ways, spending two hours discussing something that should only take two minutes is very infuriating. But I am adjusting to it, slowly.
It means in practise, that when we go on a plant or pot buying jaunt instead of an hour or two, we need to allow the best part of a day as to find our preferred garden plant choices results in visiting several plant nurseries. All requiring plenty of chit-chat.
Firstly on arrival at the nursery you need to find the owner (seller), they may be there, they may not. They may want to sell plants to us at a fair price, they may not.
It all a bit hit and miss and as each encounter is so time consuming, my limited patience is pushed to the limit and my wife often bears the brunt.
So, sometimes we end up in a 'strop'.
Luckily, the tree and shrub nurseries we use mostly here in China Nanning are situated along one stretch of road.
Once we have assembled enough plants from the various nurseries to justify the hiring of a van or small lorry to transport them back to the shop, which is not an easy task, then remembering where all our chosen plants are located and furthermore visualising the volume for loading onto a vehicle can give rise to a 'heated moment' or two...
Another prolonged negotiation takes place between my wife and various van and lorry owners on the mobile phone as she needs to confirm price and above all confirm that they can do it 'NOW'
When you hear, they will be here in 20 minutes, I have learnt, this is the Chinese 20 minutes, probably more like an hour or sometimes two of waiting.
I've given up asking, "Why did you say 20 minutes?" or "Why are they taking so long?"…
As well as plants, we buy Pots and various other bits and pieces for the garden shop.
These also follow very similar lines.
After any of these buying missions we are more often than not both exhausted.
BUT with luck, we have what we need for the shop.
Garden Centre in China Guangxi Nanning as it is now with the newly built Small Bird Aviary on the right.
To the best of my knowledge the only Small Bird Aviary in Nanning, more on this later.
This is China. There are Garden Plant Nurseries in China, lots of them, especially here in Guangxi Autonomous region - But not as we know them Jim…
Yes, as previously shown in earlier posts, some are extremely well organised (on the surface) and take on the appearance of any Plant Nursery you might find in Holland, for example. No real surprise as these have been modelled on those in Holland, America etc.
As far as I can ascertain, these better run examples are in some way Government funded. Whether regional or national, I'm not sure.
The plant nurseries in Nanning supply most, if not all the plants used for display within the city.
Plants can be purchased from these establishments but quite honestly, I have found the range from them a little limited. They are geared up for huge volume supply, displays etc. (Nanning is known as the Green city and has huge floral displays, ever changing, all year round)
These plant nurseries are not in existence to supply the local plant shops.
It's the other plant nurseries that supply most of our needs, the ones probably run by a Chinese family or two and primarily there to supply anyone that wants to buy from them.
Often a mish-mash of plants of extremely varying type and quality.
Takes me back to the 60's and early 70's when the UK horticultural trade first 'took off' and plants suddenly had a value and almost overnight stopped being supplied in 'Old Paint cans' and found themselves plonked in poly bags, which
later gave way to rigid plastic pots.
Here in Nanning China supplied plants are at the poly bag stage and will probably remain at this stage in the most part as plastic is a valuable commodity now and is reflected in the price of rigid pots here, quite expensive by comparison.
I suppose the main issue for me has been lack of variety of plant material but variation in quality has been difficult to get to grips with also.
Here we are living in a sub-tropical region in an area famous for plants and trees and yet strangely, not much of a choice.
The reason for this, I have learnt is simple.
These Chinese nurserymen do not grow plants for the love of it or because they love gardening, they do it to survive.
So, if it sells, grow it…
If you grow it and it sells, keep growing it and only it.
No need to try anything else, no real need to experiment and explore new varieties, they are unproven, they won't put a meal on the table.
Makes sense but doesn't do much for the introduction of anything new in the China plant world.
The problem for my wife in her shop is mainly volume of customers or should I say, lack of volume.
Unlike the Old Flower market where customers are in plentiful supply, so lack of variety plays no real part in the process in the OLD market as there is always demand for the same plants.
And the buyers with their own limitations are always happiest with plants they recognise and know.
After much searching, we have managed to track down one or two interesting plant suppliers here in China Nanning, those that do have the courage to at least try something new.
On the plus side for the shop, it is situated in a fairly affluent area, a lot of middle class, young Chinese that lack some of the shackles of the old ways and are searching for something new and interesting.
We try to accommodate this new garden plant demand with slightly different from the normal plant varieties and as always the case, quality, no matter where you are in the world will always find a buyer.
Ok, so we have our customer base and have found the suppliers.
The next bit is the most painful though.
For me a westerner, that with a simple phone call can have plentiful supply of plant material delivered to my door in my own country, here in Nanning China it is another matter entirely…
The getting of the plants from the nursery back to the shop which involves both negotiations with Nurseryman to purchase in the first instance and then finding and arranging a suitable transport provider of the plants has often left me and the wife, not talking...
Photo's show some of our plant suppliers in China.
To be continued...
It came unexpectedly about a week or two after the Chinese New Year 08, the phone call that is, from one of our new friends at Qingxiushan New Market Jin Hui Ru Yi Fang.
Apparently, the resident occupier of the plot we had looked at a few months past had defaulted on his rental payments and had decided to quit, walk away.
Interesting, I thought about it again, not many customers as the place was still new, my wife, with no horticultural experience, me, with no Chinese language capabilities and the Chinese way of doing things completely alien to me.
Once again, it was an easy decision - No way José.
Well, that is what my head was saying, needless to say, a few weeks later and with my passion for plants playing a more prominent role and against all my better judgement - My wife was the new proprietor.
Her, still as keen as mustard and me, well me, I enjoy a challenge.
She took over her Garden Center in China in April 08, about 9 months ago.
We immediately went too work.
Re-levelled the whole site, cleaned the rather, although newly built, ramshackle building, built shade areas, new paths, re-jigged the ponds, new perimeter fence, new layout and set too, trying to make a successful business.
Now, in the west, more especially Europe and in particular the UK, buying plants in any quantity is a relatively easy exercise.
For the gardeners, just pop along to your local Garden Centre, Nursery or Car boot as your will takes you.
For the proprietors, in most instances, a phone call or quick visit to a plant supplier, normally a Nursery, will result in a delivery within the week and depending how much clout you have, could be following day.
Further orders with the same supplier would in most cases be dealt with by either Fax, Email or Phone.
Plants arrive, you check them over, if all is well, you accept delivery and either pay on delivery or as in most cases, pay 30 days (or more) later.
Their a trusting lot, us westerner Nurserymen.
Right, there you have it, a simplified buyers guide to buying plants…IN THE UK…BUT!
This is China...
To be continued…
