Supporting wild birds in your garden

3 Feb

Did you take part in the RSPB Great Garden Birdwatch last weekend?

I did and must say it felt a real treat to sit in the garden wrapped up warm just watching the birds!

If you have a garden the chances are you spot wild birds frequently, and if they are visiting your garden it’s a good sign that you are doing something right!

Feeding birds is a great way to support their survival, but this also benefits you, and can be easy to do with a few tweaks.

This month I am sharing my top tips to increase the number of wild birds in your garden.

Why supporting birds is good for your garden

Attracting birds to your garden provides many benefits:

They will naturally reduce pests by eating a wide range including; caterpillars, slugs and aphids.
They support with pollination.
They are fantastic to watch and hear sing when you are outside and get 5 minutes of peace with a cup of tea.

Planting choices

When it comes to planting in your garden we often hear about choosing plants that will support pollinators. This is something I am always conscious of whether I am planting my own garden or designing a planting scheme for my clients.

But planting for birds is also worth considering. This is a low effort way you can support birds during the year just by making some simple tweaks.

I am sharing some ideas for plants that will attract birds, and I believe can be used in any style of garden without compromising beauty.

1. Echinops ritro 'Veitch's Blue' provide beautiful statuesque structure in a Winter garden and finches will adore eating the seed.

2. Rosa Filipes ‘Kiftsgate’ is a rambling rose with fabulous small white flowers throughout June – July. It produces masses of small red coloured hips which are fantastic for birds to forage. This is a vigorous climber so you will need to plant it somewhere where it can grow rampantly.

3. Mixed native hedging is an excellent choice when thinking about your boundaries. A mixed native hedge will often provide a mix of different hedging designed to provide excellent sources of food and shelter for wildlife. You will often see things like like Hawthorn, Blackthorn, Dog Rose, Field Maple and Hornbeam.

4. Sunflowers can be grown easily from seed and there are lots of gorgeous varieties to suit your taste. Once your sunflowers have finished flowering you can leave the seed heads through Autumn-Winter for the birds to forage from. For a bit of fun you can have your own family competition by growing the Giant seed varieties, or if you fancy something different why not try the beautiful coffee-apricot-orange tones of 'Ruby Eclipse' F1.

5. Miscanthus sinensis 'Kleine Silberspinne' is a wonderful grass that will grow up to 1.2m and looks great in wide mixed borders, or even used in a block as an alternative to hedging. It provides a wonderful whispy texture in the garden through Summer, but will fade to a pale hay colour in Winter. This will look fantastic when alongside with other seed heads, especially when glistening in the frost and snow. This provides ample seeds for the birds to eat during Winter and early Spring before you cut it down to start growing again.

Protecting vulnerable crops

Whilst attracting birds into your garden is great, there are some considerations if you have vulnerable crops. This might be a treasured veg patch or cut flower patch, where birds are slightly less welcome.

You can reduce any damage made by:

Using protective netting to prevent birds pulling up your crops (make sure this is secured properly to prevent birds getting stuck/injured).
Ensuring you have put in place strong supports.
Diverting birds to a different area of your garden where they are more welcome.

In these areas birds will not be the only concern and you may be trying to reduce damage by slugs and other pests.

If this is the case please consider what you use and reduce the use of harmful chemicals and instead opt for organic alternatives which are now widely available.

Slug pellets for example are extremely toxic to lots of wildlife that eat slugs (hedgehogs, frogs and birds to name a few). If a slug is consumed when it has come into contact with slug pellets you will inadvertantly kill other wildlife.

Limited on space?

If you are limited on outdoor space and have no option to include different planting you can still attract birds to your space and do your bit.

Using bird feeders, providing shelter and clean water sources are all things you can do no matter the size of your space.

A few things to consider include:

Variety: Just like us different birds enjoy different food sources. Trying out a variety of seed such as nyger seed, sunflower seed, suet, peanuts and dried meal worms will attract a wider variety of birds and provide excellent sources of food.

Cleanliness: When using bird feeders keeping them clean is really important to reduce disease. Giving them a wash weekly with soapy water in a bucket will ensure a healthy environment for the birds to enjoy. Don’t forget to ensure the feeders are fully dry before refilling.

Don’t forget water: Water is just as important for birds as food, throughout all seasons. In the Summer keep an eye on any bird baths to keep them topped up, and during Winter make sure you clear any ice that has frozen over the water so birds can continue to access a drink.

Add shelter: This can be growing a climber up the wall such as Ivy or putting in bird boxes. Offering shelter for birds will help them stay safe and provide places for them to nest.

I hope you have enjoyed this blog and taken away at least one idea of how you can encourage more birds to your garden.