Help me decide Rhapis or Parrotts

[Gary C]

Sorry I havent on for a while but my every spare minute has been in the construction of my purpose built Roman arched frost free pergola , which is now just about complete on the outside . One of the main plants im planning is Rhapis excelsa which I will now be able to hopefully grow to full size and perfection but will have the impression of being outdoors in the warmer months but I have also thought of an averiy in its position thinking Parakeeks and Canaries can lend an exotic air to garden , please be brutely honest with your thoughts , do you think the birds do lend an exotic air or something boring to be merely glanced at , in the words of Harry Hill theres only one way to find out !
Gary C

[Don]

I am not really the one to ask because I am not keen on caged things,however, I must admit that an aviary can add a good tropical feel. Unfortunately, the exotic effect is usually spoilt by a hideous looking structure

[themes]

I am not really the one to ask because I am not keen on caged things,however, I must admit that an aviary can add a good tropical feel. Unfortunately, the exotic effect is usually spoilt by a hideous looking structure

The structure need not look hideous, esp if you can get a climber to soften up the look..it is likely to be meshed I would think so that would be an ideal staging post

[DavidF]

I agree Don. I've yet to see an aviary that doesn't just look like an ugly outdoor birdcage. My brother's father in law had one with cockatoos, finches, quails, allsorts. He planted it up heavily and really put a lot of thought into it to try and make it look more "natural" but unfortunately all the planting was forever covered in bird sh*t and looked awful. Which is I guess what happens when you keep caged birds.

It smelled pretty bad too on hot days.

Go for the Rhapsis and get yourself one of those CD's that plays rainforest birdy sounds .

[AndyC]

There's a guy down the road from me has a couple of Macaws (I think thats what they are) in a cage attached to his garage. I can hear them making a hideous racket sometimes when I'm in the garden, how the direct neighbours put up with it I don't know.
Tropical bird song that you can switch off with a button is a better idea.

[Robin Cassell]

Dont lock the birds in a cage,only my opinion but that cant be good.

[stephenprudence]

Maybe Im wrong here, but I dont think Gary is talking about locking the birds in a cage, but instead allowing them to fly around the structure which actually doesn't look ugly, as there are plans to grow climbers up the pillars. The only problem would be you would have to install some kind of filter curtain so they could not escape and they may be a bit timid if people are viewing them at first. Although it's a nice idea, I think it would a lot of work, and I think a Rhapis is much better. Possibly some other exotic additions could be thought of..

[Gary C]

Thanks for your comments so far , Steve is partly correct the cage area was to sit perfectly within the roman arches at the shady end taking up about one third of the , the inteior , slated inside to match the rest of the construction , I did my homework and was only going to have species that sang sweetly and also small enuogth to have generous flying space and excess to the entire structure in the winter , as for smells thats down to bad husbandry , genrally birds in captivity live about five times longer and breed twice as much I do agree thougth large birds in tiny confines is wrong , all this may be hypothetical thougth because the idea of having a magnificent Rhapis in the garden my prove too strong , I plan to grow Alocasia s and Colcosias in the remaining areas and hopefully keep them evergreen , averiy or no averiy
Gary

[Nathan]

I'd go for the palm, Parakeets may prove too noisy & not enable you to relax in the garden... Same really even if you went for Canaries or Finches...

You may get Parakeets moving north soon anyway, they seem to be all over the south east, my Mum sometimes gets them in her garden...

[redsquirrel]

Go for the Rhapsis and get yourself one of those CD's that plays rainforest birdy sounds .

sounds perfect to me keith.no mess,no ties,just a can of water once in a while,and good profit if it grows well enough to repeat the process if it takes off

[kentgardener]

We had an outdoor aviary at my parents house. I would advise against parakeets and zebra finches as they are noisy (and its not a pretty sound from either of them) - canaries on the other hand were lovely - we had mainly gloucester canaries that all had funky 60's haircuts like the 'beatles' and lived for years.

Ian and I used to have a good little singer in this house (a cross between a canary and a goldfinch) that always made me smile when it decided to sing it's little heart out.

I would say go for a few canaries - and then you will have some money left for a small Rhapis too.

John

[bobbyd44]

no need to buy the parrots have had a pair flying round my garden and the river 100 yards away for a few months, and i am in winsford cheshire!! not to far away...built it they will come!!
sure there the ones from down south.