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Landscaping for songbirds.
You hope and pray for them to start singing at the crack of dawn signaling to you to get up and start your day. No, it’s not Led Zeppelin you want screeching from your clock radio. You want songbirds, those pretty little feathered creatures which make your life worthwhile. You love those cute little guys and their funny antics. You spend tons of money every year buying all sorts of things to attract them to your yard. You put up bird feeders full of birdseed, suet feeders, bird houses, bird baths and bird condos and still they don’t seem to like your place. Well, why not? You don’t even have a cat!
Have you considered landscaping for the songbirds? Songbirds like nature and your yard lacks, shall we say, a natural feel which makes them very uncomfortable. Yes, you want your garden to look nice but to attract songbirds you need to relax your strident view of how a yard should look. Landscaping for the birds doesn’t mean you have to live in the unkempt woods or a ragged meadow. Songbirds, like most creatures of the world, just need to feel protected, safe from predators and well cared for. Yes, birds are just funny like that. But you and your landscape are not without hope. With a few adjustments you can have a yard the songbirds will clamor to be allowed into. Want to know how? You wouldn’t be here otherwise.
First off, that bird feeder you got there is in the wide open where birds feel less safe than a toddler walking down Ventura Boulevard during rush hour. What are you thinking? What songbirds need to feel safer is a few bushes or trees nearby for concealment and for perching to take a quick look around to assure themselves they are safe from getting pounced before zooming to the feeder. They have to watch out for the neighborhood feline bully.
These shrubs or trees need not look horrible. They can be any kind you like but, and please excuse the pun, to kill two birds with one stone you might want to choose a bush or tree which produces edible berries. This provides an extra treat for the songbirds. What to plant? Burning Bush, Tartarian Honeysuckle, Viburnum, Rosa Rugosa, Dogwood, Crabapple, Washington Hawthorn and Cherry all are quite pretty on their own and the birds go nuts for them.
The same goes for the bird baths and bird houses. They need to be placed near plants for the songbirds’ concealment and safety. But another word about the bird houses. I know they were expensive and they are pretty as can be but many songbirds prefer to build their own nests. Again, they are just funny that way. So, with that in mind you might want to provide a small patch of semi-wild-growing, multi-branched bushes for nesting sights. But if that is too crazy for your taste consider a small grouping of shrubs. Forsythia, Rhododendron, Russian Olive and Yellow Twig dogwood are nice shrub border plants and have thick coverage so you won’t even know the birds have a nest there unless you actively look for it.
Trees of course can serve for this purpose too and they can be any to your liking, Sugar Maple, English Oak, Japanese Elm, Quaking Aspen, Weeping Willow. Truly, any will do even a Fir or Spruce which has great year round coverage due to their being evergreens.
Now in regards to the nests themselves, birds will use all sorts of things to build their nests, string, yarn, leaves, lichen in the case of Hummingbirds and long blades of ornamental grass. Does that tell you something? Like maybe you might consider putting in an ornamental grass and other similar perennials for the expressed purpose of leaving them out all winter and early spring for the birds to use on their nests. Since we’re talking about planting for the birds, getting a few seed-producing flowers would be easier and a heck of a lot prettier than filling up endless feeders. Try a patch of Sunflowers, Cosmos, Purple Coneflower and Black-eyed Susans all of which provide yummy seeds the birds love.
Now that wasn’t so bad, was it? Your yard still looks wonderful and just think how many lovely songbirds will be all over the place now that you fixed your landscape to be bird friendly. You might not get to sleep in on the weekends anymore but then you didn’t really want to, did you? You’ve been dying to get a few choice pictures with that new camera. Just remember to send me a few pictures of your lovely new songbird sanctuary.
You hope and pray for them to start singing at the crack of dawn signaling to you to get up and start your day. No, it’s not Led Zeppelin you want screeching from your clock radio. You want songbirds, those pretty little feathered creatures which make your life worthwhile. You love those cute little guys and their funny antics. You spend tons of money every year buying all sorts of things to attract them to your yard. You put up bird feeders full of birdseed, suet feeders, bird houses, bird baths and bird condos and still they don’t seem to like your place. Well, why not? You don’t even have a cat!
Have you considered landscaping for the songbirds? Songbirds like nature and your yard lacks, shall we say, a natural feel which makes them very uncomfortable. Yes, you want your garden to look nice but to attract songbirds you need to relax your strident view of how a yard should look. Landscaping for the birds doesn’t mean you have to live in the unkept woods or a ragged meadow. Songbirds, like most creatures of the world, just need to feel protected, safe from predators and well cared for. Yes, birds are just funny like that. But you and your landscape are not without hope. With a few adjustments you can have a yard the songbirds will clamor to be allowed into. Want to know how? You wouldn’t be here otherwise.
First off, that bird feeder you got there is in the wide open where birds feel less safe than a toddler walking down Ventura Boulevard during rush hour. What are you thinking? What songbirds need to feel safer is a few bushes or trees nearby for concealment and for perching to take a quick look around to assure themselves they are safe from getting pounced before zooming to the feeder. They have to watch out for the neighborhood feline bully.
These shrubs or trees need not look horrible. They can be any kind you like but, and please excuse the pun, to kill two birds with one stone you might want to choose a bush or tree which produces edible berries. This provides an extra treat for the songbirds. What to plant? Burning Bush, Tartarian Honeysuckle, Viburnum, Rosa Rugosa, Dogwood, Crabapple, Washington Hawthorn and Cherry all are quite pretty on their own and the birds go nuts for them.
The same goes for the bird baths and bird houses. They need to be placed near plants for the songbirds’ concealment and safety. But another word about the bird houses. I know they were expensive and they are pretty as can be but many songbirds prefer to build their own nests. Again, they are just funny that way. So, with that in mind you might want to provide a small patch of semi-wild-growing, multi-branched bushes for nesting sights. But if that is too crazy for your taste consider a small grouping of shrubs. Forsythia, Rhododendron, Russian Olive and Yellow Twig dogwood are nice shrub border plants and have thick coverage so you won’t even know the birds have a nest there unless you actively look for it.
Trees of course can serve for this purpose too and they can be any to your liking, Sugar Maple, English Oak, Japanese Elm, Quaking Aspen, Weeping Willow. Truly, any will do even a Fir or Spruce which has great year round coverage due to their being evergreens.
Now in regards to the nests themselves, birds will use all sorts of things to build their nests, string, yarn, leaves, lichen in the case of Hummingbirds and long blades of ornamental grass. Does that tell you something? Like maybe you might consider putting in an ornamental grass and other similar perennials for the expressed purpose of leaving them out all winter and early spring for the birds to use on their nests. Since we’re talking about planting for the birds, getting a few seed-producing flowers would be easier and a heck of a lot prettier than filling up endless feeders. Try a patch of Sunflowers, Cosmos, Purple Coneflower and Black-eyed Susans all of which provide yummy seeds the birds love.
Now that wasn’t so bad, was it? Your yard still looks wonderful and just think how many lovely songbirds will be all over the place now that you fixed your landscape to be bird friendly. You might not get to sleep in on the weekends anymore but then you didn’t really want to, did you? You’ve been dying to get a few choice pictures with that new camera. Just remember to send me a few pictures of your lovely new songbird sanctuary.
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Author Bio Box: Glory Lennon
 For more fascinating garden facts, amusing short stories and interesting novel excerpts come visit me at http://www.helium.com/user/32782
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