How to Start a Lovely Bird Garden
The first step to luring these wonderful creatures to your garden is to provide them with cover, food, and a nesting place. With these three possessions you are sure to attract some of the most beautiful birds to your garden. You want your garden to be varied with different types of trees, shrubs, and climbers. You will find that these types of plants will provide a perfect habitat for your new visitors.
The first step to starting your bird garden is to plant them an exquisite new home. This home should consist of the best plants that will lure the species of your choice to your lovely garden. You should consider planting native plants because if you plant too many non-native plants they can cause a conservation problem if they spread into sensitive areas. You should also try not to plant non-native pond plants because they can be moved by watercourses and by animals which can cause them to travel and spread into large areas of water or rivers.
Native trees are the best plants to place in your garden. The reason being that most of these types of trees are able to provide insects during the breeding season and also seeds in the winter. Trees such as oaks and beeches are best in large gardens because of their sizes.
Alder, Birch, Willow, Oak, Beech, Rowan/mountain ash, White beam, June-berry, Crab apple, Cherry, European Larch, and Scots Pine are all great trees to consider placing into your garden. These different types of trees will be sure to entice many birds.
Oak trees have the ability to support a large assortment of bugs, which includes many caterpillars, which will make the perfect food for young tits and other types of birds. Woodpigeons, great spotted woodpeckers, jays, and nuthatches will enjoy the delicious acorns that are provided from this tree.
A Beech tree will only make a home for a small number of insects, but the great abundance of nuts are eaten by many birds such as: tits, chaffinches, great spotted woodpeckers, brambling, and nuthatches.
Rowan/mountain ash will grow lovely red berries, which are very tasty for your bird friends. This species of tree is the best for your garden.
White beam are small trees that are perfect for a smaller sized garden. This tree produces white flowers in May and red berries in the fall.
June-berry is also a small tree that produces white blossom in the spring and grows best in light, acid soil. Blackish purple fruits are produced by this tree in July and are accepted by thrushes and warblers, such as blackcaps.
Crab-apple trees provide a delicious treat for people as well as birds and insects. John Downie, Golden Hornet, Lady Northcliffe and M sargentil are great types of food for your garden visitors.
Cherry trees also provide a tasty treat for people and birds. The cherry is one of the earliest fruits to ripen and is loved by very many species of birds.
Alder trees are non-native. They are best when planted in wet or damp areas and their cones are sure to attract siskins, redpolls, and goldfinches during the winter.
Birch trees will make a home to a great abundance of insects this is great if you are trying to attract birds. The seeds of the tree will attract redpolls. This tree grows best in well-drained sites.
Willow trees are beautiful and they also attract many insects that birds find irresistible.
European larch is a deciduous conifer with a large quantity of insects during particular seasons. This tree will be sure to attract finches. During the fall and winter months the European larch will surely attract siskins and crossbills, because they love the cones produced by this tree.
Scot pines are able to attract coal tits, gold crests and crossbills. This tree does grow very tall and it has very shallow roots so it is best to plant far away from buildings.
Different types of shrubs will provide the best homes and foods for your garden birds.
The Barberry is a type of shrub that has spiny branches and provides a good hideout for your friends. This shrub produces a dazzling red fruit and foliage in autumn and bluish-black fruit during the summer.
Cotoneasters are a large group of shrubs and trees that are great for wildlife. You should consult a garden advisor or check out some books to see which is the best for you.
Elder shrubs will produce black and red berries that your birds will go wild for.
Dogwood is a deciduous shrub that produces a type of berry that many birds will be attracted to.
Roses will attract greenfinches and they also look lovely in a garden.
Lavender is a beautiful purple flower that will attract gold finches as well as butterflies and bumble bees.
Hawthorne, Firethorn, Spindle, Butterfly bush, Juniper, Gorse, Guelder rose, Privet, Yew, Garrya elliptica, and Forsythia are also great shrubs that you can consider placing in your bird garden.
Climbers and ramblers will also provide food and shelter for your birds.
Honeysuckle’s flowers will attract warblers, thrushes, and bullfinches during the early summer.
Ivy can be great if you want to provide cover on tree stumps and walls, however, many will need to be restrained so that they do not grow all over the place. They provide a good cover for nesting and their flowers will surely attract insects that, in turn, will attract birds. Woodpigeons, thrushes, robins, and blackcaps eat the fruit from this plant.
Clematis Montana is a rampant climber, that provides a great nesting site if you consider to grow up a wall or a tree.
Virginia Creeper is also a great nesting site if grown up a wall or a tree.
Herbaceous plants such as cornflower, evening primrose, honesty, forget-me-not, michaelmas daisy, sunflower, and wallflower will bear fruit or seeds that are very attractive to garden birds.
Weeds also have the ability to attract different types of birds. For example linnets, goldfinches, and greenfinches love common chickweed, dandelion, coltsfoot, groundsel and sow thistle are all great sources of food. Weeds also have the ability to attract several insects that will definitely lure birds to your garden.
Earthworms are a delicacy to the bird specie. Blackbirds, song thrushes, starlings and robins spend much of their time on fresh mown lawns in search of these slimy creatures. Worms are available as long as the surface does not dry out until the late summer. Lawns are also a home to small flies for dunnocks, pied wagtails, chaffinches, and even blue tits.
If you are really considering planting a beautiful bird garden than you must invest in a garden pond. Birds love to drink and bathe and sometimes feed. The right pond can attract pied wagtails, moorhens and others to your garden. If you place small feeder fish into your pond than you can even lure a heron. Dragonflies, frogs, newts and toads have the ability to breed in garden ponds.
You want to make sure that you have plenty of food when trying to attract birds to your garden. All though birds love bugs and berries they will also feast on birdseed mixtures. Different types of birdseed have been formulated for different types of wild birds. The best thing to add to your garden would be a birdfeeder. You will be able to add food as often as you like for your feathery friends.
It is very important to know which types of birdseed will be suitable for your birds as well as the season for the best type of birdseed. Better mixtures of birdseed will contain flaked maize, sunflower seeds, and peanut granules. Birdseed mixtures that contain chunks or whole nuts are only suitable during the winter. Small seeds like millet will attract house sparrows, dunnocks, finches, reed buntings, and collared doves. Flaked maize is very popular among the blackbirds. Green finches and tits love peanuts and sunflower seeds. Oatmeal, wheat and barley are sure to attract birds including pigeons, doves, pheasants and pinheads.
You want to make sure that you are feeding your birds correctly. Bird tables are very suitable for many types of bird species as well as food. You can use a regular tray with or without a roof. You will want to raise the rim to preserve the food and an opening at each corner in order to allow rainwater to clear away unwanted food and bird poop. You don’t have to invest in an extravagant bird table design, but if you, do than keep in mind that they are much harder to keep clean.
Seed feeders are tubular containers with holes that allow the birds easy access to the food. These are specifically designed for sunflower seeds and seed mixes that are labeled feeder seed. They are sure to attract tits and greenfinches.
Nut feeders are made of steel mesh and are the only safe way to give your garden visitors nuts. You want the mesh size to be large enough to avoid any type of beak damage and small enough to avoid large pieces of nut from being taken. 6mm is a good size if you are considering adding one of these to your garden.
Bird cake and fruit bars are very easy to purchase and are an excellent winter food for you birds. If you purchase them in a mesh bag than please make sure that you remove the bag before putting the fat ball out. The mesh has the ability to injure and trap your birds. You can also make your own bird cake by pouring melted fat (lard) onto seeds, nuts, dried fruit, oatmeal, cheese and cake. Use 1/3 fat and 2/3 mixture of food. Stir well and allow it to set in a container. An empty coconut shell will make the perfect bird cake feeder. You can also place this on the bird table if you desire.
Birds love insects and other live foods. Robins and blue tits love mealworms and they can also attract other insect-loving birds to your garden. Wax worms are also a good food, however, they are pricey. You can easily obtain live feed from your local pet supply store.
Common household items such as fat, mild grated cheese, potatoes, dried fruits, and pastry are sure to attract a large array of flying lovelies.
You want to make sure that you provide a safe and clean environment for your birds and yourself so that you do not attract any infectious diseases into your garden. You have to consider that when a number of different types of birds are attracted to your area, in order to feed, that the dangers of infectious diseases can increase. So it is very important that you regularly clean and sweep your bird table areas. You should also move your feeding site several times annually.
You should always monitor your food supply. If you do not see that many birds are visiting your garden than you should consider lowering the amount of food that you place out for them.
Bird baths and bird tables or any other feeding areas need to be cleaned with a disinfectant and rinsed out several times afterwards to make sure that the chemical has been completely removed. Any water containers should be cleaned and rinsed out daily during the warmer seasons and fresh water should be added also.
Drinking water is very essential to your garden. You might want to consider placing a birdbath into your garden. You should position the bath so that the birds will have a clear view of their surroundings so that they feel safe while drinking. The water should be replaced daily during the summer and frequently replaced during the winter months so that the water doesn’t freeze.
You want your birds to feel safe and not like they are going to be chased away by pesky visitors. Grey Squirrels can be an annoyance at bird tables and they might not want to leave. You can enclose the post of your bird table with smooth plastic pipe and place a large inverted biscuit tin over the top of the post beneath the tray. This will help keep cats and other animals off of your tray.
Cats are unwelcome visitors that can find there way into your bird garden. These animals will definitely scare away your birds. You can find deterrents on the market that can be used to make your garden cat-free.
I hope that this information was informative to you. God-willing you will make the perfect habitat for your bird friends.
