Creating A Garden Where Birds Feel Welcome
Just because your garden if perfect for you, does not mean that it it perfect for birds. And, if you want to attract birds to your garden, you have to make it friendly to them as well. With only a little bit of effort, you can design a garden that both you and your bird friend will enjoy.
When planning the perfect bird sanctuary or garden, the things that you want to most take into account are food, water, and shelter. If you have those three elements, you will have no trouble attracting birds to your garden.
The size of the garden is not the biggest element as, even the smallest of gardens can easily contain more than enough of the ingredients that you will need to attract birds.
Planting fruit bearing trees and bushes is a start. Once they start to bloom, an apple tree, peach tree, or the like - especially in a big yard - will attract a great variety of birds. If your are limited to a smaller area, a hawthorn bush or a honeysuckle bush will serve the same purpose. Fruit bearing trees and bushes act as sort of a self stocking pantry and food source for birds which they will absolutely love.
The second thing that will attract birds to your garden is a water source. A bird bath positioned in an open area, not only gives them easy access to a place to drink and bathe, but it also provides a nice centerpiece to your garden. Some of the new solar powered bird baths help to keep the water fresh without being a drain on your electricity bill.
But, a pond might be something that is even better than a bird bath. Ponds provide a natural source of water for the birds. But, the other nice thing about them is that ponds give the birds a place to bath and they attract insects which the birds can feed on. Birds will also feed on insects from the other parts of your garden. This helps you to control the insect population in your yard in a totally naturally way without having to inject lots of dangerous pesticides into the environment.
And, finally, the third thing that will attract birds to your garden are shelter areas. You can situate bird houses around your yard to attract various species. Most birds love to find already build structures that they can take up residence in and raise their young. In addition to these shelter areas, however, you can also plant shrubs and bushes for those species that are not attracted to man made shelter areas. Planting a variety of dense shrubs will make them feel comfortable nesting there.
All in all, the combination of these three elements will ensure that you have a garden that will be filled with the sounds and songs of birds year round.