Plant Gardens 101

When planning your spring garden, create a design that will provide hours of enjoyment by attracting birds and butterflies. There are specific shrubs, flowers and design principles that can be used to make your garden a magnet for our feathered friends.

Add Plants Wisely - Whether you’re creating a new garden or adding to an existing one, be sure to include plants that attract birds and butterflies. Some good examples are Purple Coneflower, Sedum, Iris, Butterfly Weed (Monarch’s love this), Butterfly Bush, Asters, and Bee Balm (always a hummingbird favorite). Many of these plants are also late summer bloomers and will keep your garden shining all summer.

Make a Prairie Habitat – Native plants are not only easy to maintain, but they attract birds and create habitats for other wildlife. Effective prairie plants include False Blue Indigo, Wild Petunia, Prairie Blazing Star and Indian Grasses.

Create a Bird Rest Stop – Design a large area that give birds a place to rest, nest and feast. Include at least one shade tree, a source of water, Coneflowers and Black-Eyed Susans, ornamental grass and some small fruit producing shrubs.

Add Some Fragrance – Not only humans are attracted by fragrant flowers. Bees and butterflies are also drawn to the sweet scent of Dianthus, Phlox, Russian Sage, Catmint, Lavender, and Nicotiana.

Location, Location, Location – Plan the location of your garden based on your viewing platforms. If you want to view visiting birds out your front windows, then these gardens need to be located in your front yard. If you want to sit on your back patio, then surround this area with plants that birds love, sources of water and shade trees.

Give Your Birdhouse a Boost – If you have a bird house perched on a tall pole, make sure the the birds are attracted to it by planting a circle of bird and butterfly loving plants around the bottom. It also provides a pretty border that will save you some weed whacking.

Take It to the Water – You’re certain to attract birds and other types of wildlife with a source of water. The bigger your water source, the bigger the wildlife. A pond surrounded by water plants and perennials make a nice spot for birds and a peaceful setting for a quick retreat.

Bees & Hummingbirds – Adding nectar-rich plants will surely attract big fat honeybees and delightful hummingbirds. Some of these include Phlox Paniculata, Penstemon, Bee Balm, Butterfly Bush, Coreopsis, Sedum, and Daisy.

Wildlife Garden in a Container – Sometimes for the sake of convenience it’s easier to create your bird garden out of a container. This fits easily on a deck or under that special window and is easy to maintain. Some plant ideas include Black Eyed Susan, Russian Sage, Pink Verbena, and Purple Coneflower.

Give Me Shelter – These plants are designed to provide habitats and shelter for our feathered friends: Fat Albert Blue Spruce (it’s compact and bushy), Pyramidal Arborvitae, Saybrook Gold Juniper, Vernal Witchhazel, Chinese Lilac, Dark Knight Bluebeard, Dwarf Arctic Blue Leaf Willow, and Catmint.

For information on Grayton Beach real estate, contact Michael Taylor, your Destin FL real estate expert, at DestinRealEstateSales.com
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There are many ways to attract wild birds to your garden and hopefully to set up home in your garden bird house. Providing food and a safe place to eat is one of the easiest and most effective ways. This is particularly important during the winter months when there may be lack of their natural food.
Set up feeding stations designed for the different species you would like to see in your garden.

For finches place specially designed thistle feeders that hold the small thistle feeds that they love. Other speciality bird feeders include hummingbird feeders to hold nectar, woodpecker feeders and jay feeders. Tube feeders are designed to prevent seeds spilling on the ground and keep the seeds dry. You could also set up a window feeder to see the birds from the comfort of your room.

Always check the food regularly to make sure it is dry and free from mold and clean up around the feeder to deter wasps, ants and other predators. If squirrels are a problem in your garden be sure to purchase a squirrel proof bird feeder. (more…)

It is most beneficial to feed wild birds during the winter months when their natural food may be unavailable but shortages do occur at other times of the year. So putting food out for the wild birds at any time of year can help when there are shortages. During the breeding season a temporary shortage of food will affect the young fledglings so it is especially helpful to put out food for the birds at this time.

Feeding in the Spring and Summer

During the summer and especially when they are moulting, birds need high protein foods. Good examples to put in your feeder are raisins, currents, black sunflower seeds, grated cheese, meal worms, soaked sultanas and commercially prepared summer seed mixtures. You can also purchase mixes for insect loving wild birds. (more…)

You can use bird feeders and bird baths to attract wild birds to your garden but if you also plant a bird garden you can increase the attractiveness of your garden enormously.

Trees, shrubs and flowers can provide shelter from predators and the winter cold and provide natural food for the birds for the whole year. Providing a safe environment with a natural source of food will make your wild bird visitors feel safe and they will visit often. Your garden may already provide some natural food but small changes can easily increase the availability of the food and make your garden even more attractive.

Plan your Bird Garden

Find out which birds are common in your area and base your plan around them. You can find out from the local library or bird society or by watching birds that are attracted to bird feeders in your area. Include native plants in your plan as they are most likely to thrive and will provide suitable natural food for the birds. (more…)

One of the most rewarding parts of gardening is the frequent visitors combined with compliments. Visitors can be people like ourselves. The most appreciative visitors, however, are the “winged” kind…..Birds.

These feathered creatures add dimension to every part of your garden. There songs create a lovely atmosphere, and showy colors rival even your most elaborate blooms in beauty. Birds do not flock to just any garden, however, so you’ll need to know what kinds of factors birds look for in a habitat.

The relationship between the birds and your garden is a a symbiotic one.The birds give your garden a beautiful atmosphere, while the garden provides food, water, and shelter for the birds. Your garden may very well become a regular resting spot for many different species of birds if you take their needs into consideration in the creation of your garden. (more…)

If you are investing time and resources in growing a garden then you know full well how animal pests can destroy your efforts. Pests such as possums, rabbits, squirrels, moles, birds, and deer will often wander into a garden and eat vegetables and flowers. There are many methods available to keep these pests out of your garden such as fencing, traps, repellents, and new mechanical repellents that frighten the animal away. This article will discuss each method and examine what may work best for your animal pest problem.

Fences can be an effective method of keeping pests out of your garden and tend to work best when the animal doesnt know what the fence is protecting but while this type of large solid fence may provide a visual block, it will not block odors and can block desired views or violate local codes. A better solution for small pests would be to use a fence of woven wire or 2 inch poultry netting, 2 to 3 feet high and place around the area that you want protected. The bottom of the fence should be buried in the ground at least 6 inches to prevent animals from digging under the fence. Electric fences are especially effective for woodchucks and rabbits but if choosing this option, please make sure that you use a battery powered source that startles but does not injure the animal. While fences can be effective for some types of pests it is not the ultimate solution as larger animals such as deer can jump it and birds can fly over it. Another option would be to use a trap. (more…)

No, I didn’t misspell the word sweet. Suet is a particular food that birds just can’t resist, to wit, a great way to attract them to your bird house.

A Suet Way To Attract Birds To Your Yard

Make no mistake about it, Suet is some nasty stuff. It is the thick, white fat from a side of beef. It is slick and hardly appetizing food stuff. That is, unless you are a bird. For some unknown reason, Suet is the chocolate of the bird habitat. If you want to attract birds to the bird house you have set up in the backyard, this is the stuff guaranteed to do it.

You can buy Suet at your local grocery store. Many offer it in a combination with bird seeds of a sort, but grocery store bird seed is not the best. All and all, you are probably better off just buying it without the helpful additives. (more…)