More berries mean a hard winter - old wives tale?

 Hi,

there is a theory that extra berries on the shrubs means a hard winter and
nature is taking care of all the birds etc.

This sounds doubtful if subjected to logical analysis anyway - my 2p theory
is that more berries means a good summer, and good summers (lots of high
pressure and clear skies) are often followed by hard winters (lots of high
pressure and clear skies).

Be that as it may:

we had loads of berries on the shrubs last year - after a wonderful summer.

There are still loads of berries on the shrub by our steps (cotoneaster
springs to mind, but that may be the other one).
I need to prune this back because it is invading the area of the steps and I
do like to go down into the garden :-)
However it is still loaded with red berries, and pruning back will invlove
throwing away most of these berries.

So; are the birds still dependant on last years berries, or will this years
growth be feeding them? I know the pigeons are doing well off the buds on
our plum trees.

As a first stage I have cleared the top layer of growth, exposing the
berries underneath.
I will watch for a bit in case the birds start stripping these, but I
suspect that nature has over provided in this case.

Obviously I don't want to remove a valuable resource for the wild life, but
how long do they depend on last years berries?

TIA
Dave R
--

 
more likely shrub trying to increase its chances of propagating I should
have thought

 
Or the cold weather has killed the birds so the berries don't get eaten...

--
Martin & Anna Sykes
martins.garden@sykesm.xglobalnetx.co.uk ( Remove x's  when replying )
<http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~sykesm>

 :: Hi,
::
:: there is a theory that extra berries on the shrubs means a hard
:: winter and nature is taking care of all the birds etc.
:
: more likely shrub trying to increase its chances of propagating I
: should have thought

And even though it's a quaint idea.... shrubs haven't got any better
forecasters than the met office, or a crystal ball

 

Or else it's all relative... a nice summer always seems to be followed by a
horrible winter... but then, I despise winter in all its forms: mild or
harsh... they're all cold and miserable. (so why the hell do I choose to
live in Winnipeg?!)