I have to admit, I'm not a particularly tidy gardener. I'm just not great at keeping my patch mown, manicured and all buttoned up neatly. That's because it's really the magic of the growing process that interests me most in the garden: new shoots squeezing up from the soil, fresh leaves unfolding, plants fattening, flowers popping open, branches elongating, and the volume of vegetation going from near-nothing in winter to uncontrolled abundance during the summer.
And in autumn, I love to watch the business in reverse as plants fade and wither, retreating back into lean dormancy or going underground altogether. So, although I must, I don't like to interfere, and I prune, mow and trim reluctantly - and at the last possible minute. Like all messy gardeners, I am grateful when worthy, legitimate reasons are expounded for this easy-going mode of horticulture. And a couple of weeks ago, a book popped through the letter-box that every self-respecting, non-interventionist gardener would be happy to have on their bookshelf. Birdfeeder Garden by Robert Burton is the follow-up to this wildlife writer's excellent Birdfeeder Handbook, a volume which has earned a permanent position on my kitchen table.
Messy gardeners are reassured right at the start by the happy words: "insects, seeds and fruits that attract birds are eliminated by overzealous weeding, pruning, pest control and general tidying". But we know that already, because all winter long, sparrows, tits and finches visited the statuesque plant skeletons that we left intact in our borders, while wrens, blackbirds and dunnocks rummaged in the leaf litter underneath.
Birds add immeasurably to the life of the garden: not only do they add another link to the backyard food chain - somewhere between the snail and the neighbourhood cat - but they animate the place with their little personalities. The sight of a self-important sparrow going about the vital business of questing after food, sex and housing is one of the more entertaining things you will see through the window. I mean, birds are funny, and we need that in the garden - because you don't get a lot of laughs out of a well-grown rose, tomato or magnolia, do you?
A bird-friendly garden doesn't have to look dishevelled, so tidy-minded gardeners also can welcome feathered friends into their ordered spaces. In Birdfeeder Garden there are garden plans for each of the three European climatic regions, and the strong designs keep everything looking shipshape.
The main thing is to provide certain features that will lure birds into the garden. Obviously, installing a bird feeder is a good first step, but that alone won't significantly increase the number of flying visitors. It is important to supply a bird's essential requirements - food, water and shelter - in an environment where they feel comfortable.
The successful bird garden offers a variety of vegetation throughout the year, according to Robert Burton, with layers of trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants recreating the feel of a woodland's edge. This kind of tiered planting imitates the natural habitat of many birds, with roosting places, song posts and cover. Of course, mature trees don't spring up overnight, so in the years while they are growing, or in small gardens where there isn't enough room, "artificial trees" made from climber-draped pergolas, pillars and wigwams will do just as well.
In general, native species are more attractive to birds (oak and birch can be home to as many as 284 and 229 different species respectively), but there are many introduced varieties that are good bird-plants. And in a spirit of fairness I have to report here that the much-hated Leyland cypress attracts many different birds - including tits, goldcrests, dunnocks, finches and siskins - who find its dense foliage ideal for secure nesting and who feed on the insects and cone seeds among its branches.
Birdfeeder Garden covers almost everything you need to know about making and maintaining a bird-garden, with sensible information on landscaping and construction, choosing and caring for plants, and feeding and housing birds.
And when you have created your bird haven with this all-encompassing book, a guide to over 60 avian species at the back will help you to identify your new visitors. With the loss of many of their natural habitats, through intensive farming and building, it's not just a polite or entertaining thing to invite these flighty folk into our gardens. It's essential if we don't want to see certain species dwindle and disappear.
Birdfeeder Garden is published on March 19th by Dorling Kindersley. Price £14.99 in UK.
Diary date: Saturday, March 21st, daylong garden seminar at the Limerick Inn, Ennis Road, Limerick, run by Friends of the Hunt Museum. Speakers will include Lorna McMahon (whose Galway garden featured in this column last May), Charlie Wilkins, and veteran gardener Christopher Lloyd. Tickets cost £15. Enquiries: 061-312960.