Organic Islands - Gardening for the Birds

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Gardening for the Birds

Courtesy of Gardening News, Russell Nursery - by Sue Rice

Birding is becoming an increasingly popular pastime and goes well with gardening. It’s easy to become interested in the birds attracted to our gardens and just as easy to attract more. In addition, by making our gardens (and parks, schoolyards and other places) attractive to birds we are helping to offset the widespread loss of habitat through development.

The first thing that usually come to mind is to put in a few plants with berries, but there’s more to consider than just food if you really want to get things going. Aside from food, birds also need cover, nesting places and materials and water. Cover can be a spot to roost or to hide from predators or to shelter from the weather. Nesting sites whether natural or man-made must be secure and materials such as dried grasses and fluffy seedpods should be at hand. Water can be provided a number of ways, from a birdbath to a pond with safe access - if it is moving so much the better!

All the elements of the garden combine to provide habitat, from the layout to the selection of plants, to the style or degree of maintenance. A garden that is highly maintained and very tidy will not be as attractive to birds as one that is less tidy. For example, by leaving the roses to develop hips or the stalks on the perennials and annuals until the spring, the birds will benefit from them over the winter.

If a corner can be left a little wild with a thicket of wild roses, or a tangle of blackberries it would be a great draw. Even a pile of brush is a good thing. A nice, mown lawn is good for birds, especially if it has some clover, buttercups and dandelions in it! Use pesticides with care, if at all, in the bird garden and be sure to keep tabs on the family cat. Put a bell on Kitty and place feeders and baths away from spots where a cat might hide. Young birds just leaving the nest are particularly vulnerable, as they don’t have the flying skills necessary to get them out of trouble in a hurry.

And now to the plants. A mixed garden with a wide variety of trees, flowering and evergreen shrubs and a good mix of flowers, fruits and berries is the ideal. Trees such as oaks, alders, beech, mountain ash, pines, willows and birch are all highly desirable. Aside from providing cover etc., they also support a rich insect population, which many birds feed on. Smaller trees such as serviceberry, cherry, crabapple and other fruit trees, dogwood, hazels and many many more can be used to great effect. There are a wide range of shrubs including viburnams, cotoneaster, pyracantha, berberis and buddleia are just a few.

Thick hedges of privet, holly or yew are great sources of food and shelter and provide good nesting sites. A wild natural hedgerow with hawthorn, wild roses, snowberry, blackberry and all the associated plants would be bird heaven. Oregon grape, huckleberry, elder, the list seems endless and includes a variety of perennial and herbaceous plants, small fruits, herbs and wildflowers. One doesn’t have to have a large garden t enjoy a thriving bird population, just a varied one. For a more complete list of plantings for your area, visit you local garden retailer.