Gardeners' World presenter Monty Don has revealed the one thing that gardeners should never add to bird feed if they want to keep rats and squirrels away.
Speaking in the latest issue of the Gardeners' World magazine, the horticulture expert said that there is one ingredient he never adds to his homemade bird feed as it is known to draw the attention of unwanted pests.
The presenter said: "No grain as this primarily attracts pigeons, sparrows, squirrels and rats, and is rarely eaten by other birds."
Meanwhile, the presenter did let us know the ingredients he does include in his carefully crafted bird feed.
He added: "This is composed of a mix I make up myself with sunflower seeds and hearts, peanut pieces, suet pellets, dried mealworms and nijer seed, and lives in a dustbin outside the back door."
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He added: "This is composed of a mix I make up myself with sunflower seeds and hearts, peanut pieces, suet pellets, dried mealworms and nijer seed, and lives in a dustbin outside the back door."
And the veteran TV presenter also shared where he decided to place his feeders to yield the best results as well as warning of the threat of sparrow hawks stealing the food.
Monty said: "I hang peanut feeders and fat and suet balls from the branches of the large fig tree in the corner of our backyard, and every morning I sprinkle the seed mix onto the logs and along the top of the stone wall that is backed by thick brambles, which act as cover for the sparrow hawks that occasionally swoop in and take a small bird from the table."
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After first appearing on our TV screens back in the 1990s, Monty has become a prominent feature ever since thanks to his presenting roles on the likes of Tomorrow's World and This Morning, before most notably taking over from Alan Titchmarsh on Gardeners' World in 2003. Since then, the gardening legend was awarded an OBE in for his services to charity, broadcasting and horticulture in 2018.
Monty recently left his fans sad as he issued an update on Gardeners' World. Alongside an image of the crew, he posted online: "Filming the last GW of the year today and tomorrow - thankfully no rain."
Monty's followers flooded the comments as they expressed their sadness over the news. One wrote: "Noooooo! Will you be doing winter specials again? It helps with the wait."
