Concrete Leaf Bird Bath Acanthus Carved 24 Inch
- Regular price
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$179.99 - Regular price
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$199.99 - Sale price
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$179.99
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LEAF BIRD BATH
Charcoal, So the Water Shows
Concrete is grey, so bird baths are mostly pale grey. Put a pale bath in front of green planting and the bowl is the first thing you see.
Charcoal does the opposite. It settles back into the foliage and what you notice is the water surface instead.
The difference is largest at dusk, when pale stone flattens into the same grey as everything else and a dark piece keeps its outline. Dusk is also when birds come most.
What Makes This Bird Bath Different
- Charcoal is a placement decision, not just a colour. A pale bath needs a dark background to read against. A dark one works in front of planting and against a light wall, which makes it far easier to place. If you have looked at a dozen bird baths and found them all too bright against your borders, this is the one that solves it.
- A 20 inch basin gives a bird room to hesitate. They land on the rim, settle, look around, and only then step in. A generous edge leaves room for that, and wide basins hold birds longer than narrow ones.
- Fill to two inches, not to the brim. At that depth chickadees stand and sip, robins get their whole body in and shake water everywhere, and bees land on the wet edge to drink. Filled to the top it becomes a drinking stop.
- Dry brushed finish, which needs the dark ground. Silver grey on the raised leaf tips, near black in the recesses. The same acanthus carving on pale stone reads flat by comparison.
Dark pieces belong in front of planting rather than against a dark hedge or wall, where the outline disappears. Green foliage, a mixed border or a lawn edge all work. Twenty four inches puts the basin at a height most species treat as safe. Leave two or three feet of open ground and keep a shrub within a short flight for cover.
Quick Specifications
| Design | Acanthus leaf pedestal with egg and dart rim |
|---|---|
| Material | Concrete |
| Finish | Charcoal, dry brushed, sealed |
| Height | 24.4 in. |
| Basin diameter | 20 in. |
| Water depth | 2 in. recommended |
| Weight | 31.9 lb. |
| Assembly | Two piece, no tools required |
| Use | Outdoor year round |
Setup, Care, and Warranty
Setup and placement
Two pieces, no tools. The basin sits onto the pedestal under its own weight.
Set it on level solid ground so the water sits even across the bowl.
Filling it
Two inches is the number. Birds wade rather than swim, so shallow water is what gets them in. It also stays cleaner and warms faster in spring.
Keeping the carving crisp
A soft brush every couple of weeks keeps the acanthus recesses clear and the contrast sharp. Charcoal hides general marks well, so upkeep is lighter than on a pale bath.
Winter
Drain the basin before the first hard frost and leave it empty or turned over. Sealed concrete comes through freeze and thaw well when dry.
3 year warranty
This product includes a 3 year warranty against cracking. Coverage, claim requirements and required documents are subject to the warranty policy that applies at the time of purchase. Keep your order confirmation and contact customer support with your order details if service is needed.
Questions Before You Choose
Why dark rather than pale?
A pale bath is an object in front of your planting. A dark one settles into it, so what you notice is the water. It also holds its outline at dusk, when pale stone goes flat.
Does dark concrete get hot in sun?
Any concrete in full sun warms up. Water in a shallow basin warms with it, which birds generally like in spring and which means topping up more often in high summer.
What are the two carvings?
Acanthus leaf on the column, egg and dart around the rim and base. Two classical motifs doing different jobs, one for volume and one for rhythm.
Will birds actually use it?
The 20 inch basin with a wide rim gives them somewhere to land and assess from. Fill to two inches, keep the approach open, and have cover within a short flight.
Every garden has food in it somewhere. Most have no water at all.
None of this is particular to our bird baths. It is true of any backyard, and it is the reason a basin of clean water changes who visits your garden.
Water is used year round
Birds drink and bathe in every season, including the weeks when puddles and shallow ponds are frozen over.
Two inches, no more
Songbirds bathe standing up. A basin deeper than roughly two inches at the centre gets looked at and left alone.
Ten feet from cover
A wet bird is a slow bird. Put the bath near a shrub or a low branch and it gets used; strand it in open lawn and it does not.
Tall enough to be safe. Shallow enough to be used.
Height is not decoration. A pedestal lifts the basin above a cat's easy reach, and puts it at eye level from a kitchen window instead of lost in the planting. The basin slopes as well. It stays shallow at the rim and drops a little toward the centre, so a small bird can stand at the edge and a larger one can stand in the middle.
Fill it to about two inches. That is shallow on purpose, and it is also why it empties and refills in seconds. Exact height and basin width for this piece are in the specifications further down.
Still water, or moving water.
Still
Out of the box it is a basin of standing water, which is all most birds ask for. Fill it, change it every few days, done. No cord, no pump, nothing to fail.
Moving
Add a solar fountain kit and the surface breaks. Moving water carries further than a still basin and keeps mosquitoes from settling. It sits in the basin, so there is no drilling and no wiring.
Three habits, and it outlives the garden bed.
A bird bath does not need much. Almost every one that fails does so for one of two reasons. Either water was left in it through a freeze, or a detergent stripped the surface. Avoid both and the rest is rinsing.
Rinse and refill every few days in warm weather. A tip and a hose is enough.
Scrub with a stiff brush and diluted white vinegar when algae shows. No detergent and no bleach, since both leave residue birds will drink.
Empty it before the first hard frost, or keep it moving with a de-icer. Water left to freeze is the one thing the warranty can't undo.