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Morning all, I hope you all had a great Christmas. I had some vouchers for my local gardening nurseries as I am trying to make my garden as wildlife friendly as possible to attract birds (mainly).
I have a nice empty space in my garden to put a shrub or bush and was wondering what's best to get?
I would like to provide some cover for feeding birds as my garden is new its very open,.
My first thoughts are either cotoneaster or dog rose?
Any suggestions welcome.
Thanks Doggie, that's what i'm looking for, ... cover for when they get spooked, and maybe nice berries to be eaten in the autumn. I have planted a young crabapple tree but it needs to grow (only cost me £1 from morrisons)
You can buy Guelder Rose bare rooted at this time of the year. The blackbirds, thrushes and fieldfares just love the berries. They do take a while to grow but I have so much enjoyment watching the birds come and go from the few that I have. During the summer the Tits and Willow Warblers spent their time flying to and from them getting caterpillars and for a place to take shelter. I don't know if you can buy them as fully grown plants - I just bought mine as small whips but they are just great for my Wild Garden along with the Dog Rose which the birds just love too.
You will see details about the Guelder Rose on the website that Alan gave you. Hope that helps.
I took out my Guelder Rose because it suffered badly from aphids and harboured them in the bark overwinter. This affected the flowering/berrying even though the birds tried to eat all the insects. It's a balance, especially if trying to grow fruit and vegetables as well. I left a Philadelphus which also provides for overwintering aphids because the tits seem to manage to eat most of the aphids there. I have replaced the Viburnum Opulus with Berberis and Blackthorn which are growing well.
In my garden the more thorny bushes, the better the protection for smaller birds from sparrow hawk strikes. I have some in large containers I can move around in the winter to enhance evergreen shrubs, One pot, near a camellia, has a self-sown Berberis amongst daylilies which does not stop the blackbird foraging for tossed raisins but will stop the hawk flying into the bush. I've even harvested brambles and Berberis branches and woven them into an Escallonia wall shrub to enhance the protection factor. I'm growing on a holly seedling which will add more protection/berries next year.
All the berries around here have been eaten now. I'm buying loads of raisins and chopping up apples.
Thanks for your replies, im going to have a look at the garden centre when the rain eventually stops anyday soon. I'll let you know what I decide to buy. either way a nice shrub in the garden will be nice for the birds