By adding certain plants, shrubs and bushes you will attract more birds to your backyard and garden areas.

photo credit: SearchNetMedia

Shrubs and trees will provide shelter for birds year round. They will also provide them a place to nest. You will notice that once you have establish safe places for birds to nest, they will generally return from year to year.

Creeping vines, such as Virginia Creeper, offer an excellent mating and nesting haven for many species of bird. I myself am not fond of Virginia creeper. It tends to be invasive and hard to remove, but the birds love it. Holly bushes, privet trees, and conifers are also favorites for birds.

Berry trees and bushes will attract birds in the wintertime when other food is scarce. And in our area the shoemac tree is a popular feeding retreat for a large variety of birds.

Butterfly bush, Snapdragon, black-eyed Susan, golden rod, evening primrose, marigold, larkspur, yarrow, herbs and thistle will also attract birds.

photo credit: Lilmsmrtas

If your garden is relatively open or you don’t have room to plant shrubs or trees, you may want to consider putting up nesting boxes. These boxes will give the birds protection from weather and animals.

And while the winter season is here, it’s the perfect time to plan a bird garden. A small garden with flowers that attract bird can easily be grown in a small area, containers, or on an unused hillside.

In your bird garden you may want to add bright colored flowers, which will attract hummingbirds. Hummingbirds are good for pollinating plants and they are non-stop fun to watch.

Plants that will attract humming birds include azaleas, honeysuckle, morning glory, lantana, red buckeye, acanthus, and butterfly bush.

You can also place Hummingbird feeders filled with sugar water around your yard.  Feeders usually have bright red flowers attached so that the hummingbirds can readily recognize them.

photo credit: Lori Greig

And last but not least, add a water feature to your backyard or garden. This will beautify and create a relaxing feel to your yard and give the birds a resource for drinking and bathing during drier months.

A small fountain or traditional birdbath will attract a wide variety of birds to your garden area. And if a fountain does not fit into your décor a dish of water on the ground will water the birds in dry weather.

Tip: You may want to float a leaf on the surface of a small container of water so it’s easy for birds to recognize. And empty it daily to avoid attracting mosquitoes.

With a little effort you will add birds to your backyard, which will add pleasure, color and insect control to your home and garden areas.

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The addition of birds will add color and laughter to your backyard. Even in the winter months with planning you can have birds visiting your birdfeeders and birdhouses.

photo credit: gerrybuckel

Create a bird haven by purchasing  a bird feeder. They are available online or at your local garden center. If you are creative you may want to build your own.

Bird feeders come in a variety of sizes and shapes. You may also want to add seed feeders, suet feeders or nectar feeders. Your choice will depend on the time of year and the birds you want to attract.

Bird food will also be chosen based on the types of birds you would like to attract.

• Seeds attract the widest variety of birds, including chickadees and cardinals.
• Suet attracts insect-eaters like woodpeckers and nuthatches.
• Nectar feeders will attract the entertaining hummingbird, a personal favorite of mine.

Place a birdbath in your yard. Water is just as important as food in a bird’s diet. Bathing is also a daily bird routine and is often comical to watch.

If you want a more upscale birdbath, find one that has running water or a fountain. A bird bath with running water is a plus in the winter to keep fresh water available plus the sound of the water will also add to your personal enjoyment. Just make  sure that there are dry ledges in and around the birdbath so the birds can drink in cold weather and not have to get wet.

Place a birdhouse or two in your yard. There are many birdhouse varieties that will fit in well in your backyard décor.

photo credit: mtungate

Try to keep the birdhouse in a protected location and not exposed and out in the open. And remember when selecting a birdhouse the size of the bird hole entrance will determine which bird will use the house. Ask the garden center when purchasing the house what bird variety will use the house.

Gardens, shrubs and trees will influence the birds that will use your backyard. Choose plants that have nectar and others that have seeds. Bushes that are prickly or thick are great for shelter. There are also plants that attract insects, which will provide natural food you’re your birds. Trees will also provide food and shelter for many different types of birds.

photo credit: liangjinjian

Tips

Keep the area clean under any bird feeder. This leftover food and seed material can create unhealthy bacteria.

Always keep your birdbath clean. And in the winter you may have to add fresh water to a birdbath or remove frozen water.

Squirrels can become a nuisance at a bird feeder. Try to discourage their use of the feeders. Bears are also attracted to feeders so you may have to remove them if bears become a problem in your area.

You may want to consider adding feeders, birdhouses, birdbath or fountain and even a mini garden that will attract birds to your backyard oasis area.

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One reason why the perennial plant is sought after is because of its remarkable ability to survive year round through most weather conditions. Another reason is perennials save time and money.

photo credit: Rowdy Rider

What is it about perennials that enables it’s winter survival abilities, whereas other plants will shrivel up and die as soon as the going get tough?

By understanding our plants in the backyard we can take better care of them and plan for further plants to add to our backyard oasis.

As with most things in the natural world, not all plants are created equal, however some biologists have succeeded in re-engineering annual and biennial plants to last longer.

Although stretching the life of a non-perennial would certainly make the plant and floral businesses flourish, marketing isn’t the only reason scientists and many others have this question. If we had vast amounts of plants that have medicinal and life saving properties, we could study their curing capabilities at an exponential rate. The longevity of the perennial plant is definitely an exciting curiosity for many people.

photo credit: prudencebrown121

Interestingly enough, the perennial plant is able to thrive year after year due to a few survival tricks it has up it’s sleeve. Trees and shrubs are a perfect example. These drop their leaves and protect their next year’s growth with waxy scales.

If you examine the bud of a perennial plant and you’ll see that it covered with a sticky looking waterproof wax. When the bud begins to bloom, it scars as its scales fall off and the distance between its scars are an indicator of how many times a year that perennial plant grows.

The perennial plant gears up for the winter by draining its own food supply from its leaves down inside its trunk, branches, and twigs. As the weather gets colder, the tissues of the perennial plant will slowly change and become cold resistant in a process called “hardening.”

During these changes, the chlorophyll of a perennial plant will decompose and lose its propensity to project a green hue – leaving the tree with its trademark red, yellow, orange, and brown autumn leaves.

At this time of year I am re-evaluating the backyard and plants. I plan to start several shrub seeds I have and work with perennials in the mini greenhouse. This will give me more shrubs and plants for the yard and a head start on changes for the backyard garden areas.

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After planning my hillside garden area, checking the area for every possible drainage problem I could imagine and covering the grass area with heavy cardboard and eight inches of soil it was time to let the area set and firm up.

photo credit: maskroskurbits

I watered the area lightly with a mist to compact the top of the soil and let it set a week. I had it rolled to tamp in down and then it was time to put in the shrubs.

I received a great deal on shrubs. They were about $1 a piece for the left over seasonal shrubs. There were 22 shrubs in all. I was lucky and managed to get a combination of low, medium and a tall medium variety of shrubs.

Out of these shrubs. I will use 1/3 of the shrubs in the hillside garden area. By planting shrubs on the hill it will help to anchor the soil and prevent water run-off. The shrubs I have are low-maintenance and like plenty of sunshine.

I set the shrubs out in the hillside garden where I thought I might like them, checked for the size they would grow and looked at them for a day to make sure I had them in the proper location. And yes, I did move them a few times.

I also added a few large rocks and tired to visualize the perennials that I have selected for the garden area.

Next I planted the shrubs, watered them well and moved my rocks into their positions. The rocks were laid in placed in such a manner to redirect water if the problem were to arise again.

Two weeks later I added my perennials. I selected heat tolerant perennials, a few herbs and a few varieties of ground cover.

At the bottom of the hillside garden there will be a small retaining wall. For right now, I just have a row of rock to mark the garden edge. Cut rock will be placed here next spring.

This garden should prevent run off flooding and will be easy to maintain. And with time I will probably add some garden art.

NOTE: A hillside garden is very good for erosion control, water run off and excellent for small yards that may only have a hill or steep slope that may be sitting empty and unused. With planning you can turn that area into a beautiful useful area of your backyard.

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My front yard has a 90-degree angle or slope, from the road down to the house. Now normally that’s not a problem and the slope look nice when its mowed.

photo credit: brewbooks

But this year our abundant rain created quite a problem and when the drain directly across the hill filled with rock from a rockslide my yard turned into a waterfalls.

Four and one half hours of water crossing the road and bringing rocks, branches, dirt, garbage and anything else that fell in it path into the yard created quite a mess. The water current also uprooted a shrub and ripped out all my perennials.

After the chaos was done, I had a rock pile in front of the house, no yard and the beginning of an idea of how to make sure that this would not happen again.

How would I do this? With a raised shrub bed up near the road, a garden area just below that and a retaining wall at the end of the garden on a hill and before the new drive way.

photo credit: mikeporcenaluk

The driveway would also have drainage and a dry creek, just in case I ever had water again. I drew my ideas on paper, started accumulating my needed supplies and knew that a project this big would take a year to complete, if I wanted to keep costs reasonable.

You may also need a garden on a hill to divert or slow water or to create an area that does not need mowed. You can add color and beauty, cut down on yard work and make sure your soil is stabilized in case of a flood or water run off.

To prepare my yard I picked up the biggest rocks that washed in the yard, tried to find what perennials I could salvage then laid down heavy cardboard to kill the grass. I had such a mess this was the easiest way to deal with the problem.

You may want to prepare the soil by removing weeds or any undesirable large rocks or boulders. It is good to leave some large rocks, however, for interest and for ground stability purposes.

photo credit: stereogab

Next I Mixed organic mulch and compost in topsoil and layered it on the cardboard base. If your mixing a the mulch into the ground two to four inches will be sufficient. I used 10 inches of my soil mix.

Next I studied my plant and shrub plan, lightly sprayed the soil to make it firm and let it set for a day. Then I tamped it in place and prepared to lay out my garden plan.

My plan involved shrubs, perennials, and rocks to help direct any excess water.

Next I Dug furrows along the contour of the hill to allow water to flow between the plants rather than running straight down the hill. This will direct the water to flow along the plants, then down and away from your home.

My next plan was to make sure the drive was put in the way I wanted it. Then on to the shrubs and plants.

Part two will follow in a few days

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