Landscaping for Your Birds
Mar 15, 2019
Landscaping for your birds
We can encourage birds to make their homes near ours by creating habitats they will enjoy and benefit from. Birds have four basic needs: food, water, cover and nesting sites, so the ideal backyard habitat will meet most of these needs.
Consider this sampling of plants which attract birds:
Fruit-producing trees: cherry, crab apple, hawthorn, mulberry, mountain ash.
Evergreens: juniper, fir, hemlock, boxwood, pine, spruce, cypress, holly
Shrubs: barberry, azalea, choke-berry, viburnum
Vines: honeysuckle, trumpet vine, Virginia creeper
Grasses: quaking grass, pampas grass, oat grass, reed grass
Annuals: bachelor’s button, morning glory, impatiens, marigold, petunia, sunflower, zinnia
Perennials: aster, bee balm, black-eyed susan, coneflower, chrysanthemum, phlox
So, before purchasing a plant for your yard, around your feeding station or water source, consider whether it will provide food, nesting sites or shelter for your birds. With the right plants, you can easily enhance the effectiveness of your feeding station dramatically.