Six goldfinches feeding on cherry buds and lavender seed heads in my front garden

Six goldfinches were feeding on cherry buds and lavender seed heads in my front garden this morning in freezing temperatures and a heavy frost.

Goldfinch eating Lavender seed heads this freezing morning in a Sussex garden, UK.

Conventional advice is to prune lavender after flowering.

If you do NOT prune the seed heads, then they are a feast for seed eating birds like this goldfinch on this freezing, frosty January morning.

This is illustrated in a talk "The evolution of a formal garden to a nature reserve" at http://www.peterlovetttalks.co.uk/page19.html 
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