Pleasing purple martins

It's time now to build a martin house for the coming scouts

As I write this column, I am watching snow fall. The weather conditions do not suggest spring, but they certainly cause me to daydream about spring and the harbingers of spring -- purple martins.

Within two weeks you should have your purple martin house in place. If you are getting a new one that you have to put together, it is time to get going because it will take some time to assemble all of the pieces of the martin house puzzle.

When looking for a martin house to buy, there are several things that you should keep in mind. I would suggest that you purchase a house made of aluminum for several reasons. First, aluminum houses are light. In contrast, wooden houses are usually very heavy.

Aluminum houses hold up for several years. In contrast, plastic houses will deteriorate after several years of exposure to sunlight.

Aluminum, especially when painted green or white, reflects sunlight. This reflection will keep the purple martin families cooler during their summer stay in the area.

You will have to clean out each apartment after the season. In addition if you have sparrows or starlings trying to occupy an apartment, you will want to get rid of their nests during the season. Therefore ease of cleaning is an important feature. Some houses require disassembly for cleaning, while others have apartment doors that open easily for access.

You will prefer to have a purple martin house that has subfloors in it. These floors keep the martin family up off of the apartment floor. This keeps the family drier during wet weather. The subfloors also reduce the incidence of mite infestations.

Male purple martins are very territorial. Therefore, it's best to get a martin house that has porch dividers. Without the dividers, one male may keep other males from setting up housekeeping. Therefore you will only get partial occupancy in your house.

A hexagonal-shaped house reduces male territory protection is a slightly different way than porch dividers. Normally males will not "look around the corner" to see if any other males are entering their "porch space."

If you are putting your house in a somewhat wooded area, the hexagonal house makes more sense. Martins need about 25 feet to 40 feet of clear air space within which to swoop down to their apartment. The hexagonal house provides you with more "swoop directions" than do most rectangular houses.

Many houses come with entrance plugs. When you first open your house in the spring, place plugs in most of the entrance holes. This will discourage sparrows from building in the apartments. With most holes plugged, you will only have to keep an eye on just a few apartments, instead of all the apartments.

You should get a house that comes with a pole. Telescoping poles are usually less expensive, while poles with lanyards or cables to raise and lower the house are usually more expensive. Raising and lowering the purple martin house is much easier with a lanyard or cable system that with a telescopic pole.

Hopefully I have given you enough information so that you can make an intelligent decision on the type of purple martin house that you want to purchase. Some come already assembled, while others come unassembled. If you purchase one of the unassembled ones, don't try to put it together at the last minute. You want to make sure that it is up around the first of March when we usually see the first scouts.

Send your gardening and landscape questions to Paul Schnare at P.O. Box 699; Cape Girardeau, Mo. 63702-0699 or by e-mail to news@semissourian.com.