If you want to attract more birds to your garden, consider creating a haven perfectly suited to their needs. With a garden tailored for birds, you'll enjoy the company of various feathered friends. Here's how to make your yard bird-friendly.
Minimize Your Lawn and Focus on Native Vegetation
When designing a bird-friendly yard, you can start by reducing the size of your lawn. Lawns are monocultures that require frequent maintenance. When you reduce their size, you can plant native plants that naturally attract birds. This change will offer more food sources for birds and create a well-fitted habitat for them to perch, nest and forage.
Choose Plants With Flowers, Berries and Seeds
Many flowers nourish birds during the winter, as they produce seed heads that are a wonderful food source. Rather than deadheading your spent plants, leave them for your visitors. A clever bird-friendly landscaping idea is to plant berry bushes that carry fruit throughout the winter. Cherry, blueberry and evergreen huckleberry bushes are good choices.
Don't Remove Trees
Trees provide spots for perching and nesting and offer protection from predators. Try not to remove trees from your garden, as they are advantageous to birds. You can create an ideal habitat for various birds by letting trees grow in your garden.
Add Wind-Protection
If you live in an area with strong winds and storms, consider adding a hedge or sturdy fence to block the wind. Birds can take refuge in these wind-free zones. Birdhouses and feeders can also serve as bird shelters during harsh weather conditions.
Add a Water Feature
Adding a water feature or two is an excellent way to support birds. Your visitors can have a refreshing drink and enjoy a lovely bath.
You don't need to install a large water feature — small water sources like a grinding stone or natural stone with cavities will work perfectly, as will an artificial water feature. Certain birds may prefer a specific water feature, possibly for safety reasons, so incorporating multiple water sources can be a good idea.
Don't Use Pesticides
Birds will love your garden if it is bug-friendly. They can do the job of pesticides — ridding you of bugs by making a meal of them. If you plant a variety of native plants, you can also draw in other creatures like frogs and insect predators like ladybugs that'll help control pesky bugs.
Add Rocks and Logs
Adding rocks and logs to your garden looks beautiful and helps you increase bird perching spots.