Plants for birds

Everybody here at the nursery loves to see wildlife in the garden. From tiny insects to mischievous squirrels or (if your lucky) majestic owls and lively badgers.

Trees and plants form the backbone of a wildlife friendly garden and in this blog I'm going to look at trees for birds.

Birds require a nesting site, shelter and food if they are to prosper in your garden, below I have listed some brilliant trees and shrubs that offer up some of the things that our chirpy friends need.

Food

Sorbus varieties produce masses of red, orange, white or pink berries in the late summer and autumn which not only look great but provide food throughout the winter. Birds prefer the red berries of varieties such as S. commixta 'Embley' or the native S. aucuparia (pictured) but are also most appreciative of the other orange, yellow and pink. White berries are often left alone by the birds so avoid these.

Prunus padus 'Watereri' (Bird cherry) and Prunus avium (Wild cherry) both produce fruits early in the season that birds will seek out.

Cotonester varieties produce masses of red berries that will be gobbled up. Cotoneaster cornubia (pictured) is a particularly nice semi-evergreen variety that produces white flowers which attract bees.

The red berries of yew are a good source of food for thrushes.

Holly carries red berries in the winter that are great for birds.

Any plant that attracts plenty of insects such as buddleja, syringa or cotoneaster will be beneficial to birds in your garden. Birds love bugs!

Shelter and nesting materials

Trees like Betula pendula (birch) provide plenty of fine broken twigs for birds to use as nesting material. Conifers and other evergreen or densely foliaged plants such as Carpinus betulus (hornbeam) which particularly attracts the Hawfinch, will provide wonderful cover for birds. Carpinus betulus (hornbeam) is also home to lots of species of moth which in turn attracts birds. A native hedge is almost unrivaled in its habitat for birds, dense cover and plenty of insects and wild berries to eat.

Most plants will have some positive effect on the biodiversity of your garden so almost anything you can do to introduce more wildlife into the garden will in turn bring the birds your way.

For more on birds why not join;

NaturalEngland, birdinguk, Natures_Voice, gardeners_world and/or The_RHS on twitter.

www.ornamental-trees.co.uk