Attracting Wild Birds -Landscaping

Attracting wild birds though landscaping can be fun,exciting and relaxing. Figuring out what shrubs or trees will best suit the yard or the area is sometimes a little challenging and over whelming.  To attract wild birds keep in mind what is needed to draw them into the yard.  What's a necessity for the birds?  As with people,birdseed food,water and shelter.  What trees or shrubs are best  or more reliable to attract wild birds?  There are many choices but limit the choices by considering the amount of area available to plant.  Shrubs and bushes are good starter plants for attracting wild birds.  Many offer dense branching for nesting and protection.  They offer fruit or berries for food and draw insects to them via the flowers and leaves thus becoming part of the food chain.  Viburnums,bayberry and wax myrtles are nice choices.  All of these shrubs get small white or pink flower clusters in the springtime that give off a slight aroma.  The flowers produce berries in the autumn attracting wild birds such as mockingbirds,catbirds,cedar waxwings and robins.  The bushes range from small (3 ft.) to tall (25 ft.) in height with no real shape.  They can be pruned easy enough but select one that is right for the area.  Landscaping with ground cover is important in attracting wild birds.  Sparrows and juncos nest on the ground so ground covers provide a place for them to hide their nests.  Ground covers provide food as in berries and insects too.  Here are some evergreen ground covers  suggestions: creeping junipers,lingonberries and cotoneasters provide thick matting of branches for protection and hiding  The berries they produce are snatched up by thrashes,titmice,jays and catbirds  Deciduous ground covers also attract wild birds.  Strawberry plants,Virginia creeper,grapes and bittersweet all offer food and protection.  Quail,grosbeaks,robins and thrushes devour the berries and forage for insects hiding in the leaves.  Landscaping wouldn't be complete without a few trees.  Big trees such as oaks,elms,and hickories are beautiful but need space.  Oak trees offer acorns which are loved by wild life and wild birds.  It's a good winter source food provider.  Oaks have small flowers in the spring attracting  wild birds to them for the insects and caterpillars.  The tall tree canopy is attractive to orioles and tanagers which like the mature trees.  Woodpeckers search the bark for an insect dinner.  Smaller trees like dogwoods and mountain ash are good choices for the small areas.  These trees have pretty flowers which yield red to orange berries in the fall.   Fruit trees come in dwarf or standard sizes to fit into most landscaping scenery.  They are a magnet for attracting wild birds.  The problem is you may never enjoy the fruit unless the trees get covered because the wild life and birds have 24/7 to watch the fruit develop and mature where you  only have a few hours to watch for ripening.  Cherry trees are irresistible to wild birds.  Catbirds.bluebirds,mockingbirds and blackbirds all will have their eyes on the soft fleshy fruit.  Apricots,plums and apples appeal to wild birds such as bushits,thrashers,grosbeaks and cedar waxwings.  A whole fruit tree can be stripped of its produce in a day.  I have seen this happen in my own yard.  Another choice for attracting wild birds is the evergreen trees. Spruce trees,firs, hemlocks and rhododendrums aid in  quality shelter  and protection for the birds while adding interesting texture and beauty to the landscaping.  The pine cones are good eating for pine siskins,crossbills and titmice.  Hemlocks attract chickadees,juncos andgoldfinch with its smaller pine seeds.  Rhododendrum flowers attract hummingbirds and offer nesting and roosting.  Holly bushes and trees give wildbirdsprotection all year round and well as food supplies for the winter season.  The diversity in holly sizes makes landscaping with them easy.  Many hollies can be used as foundation plants making it easy to attract the ground wild birds for close up viewing.  Suppliment the landscaping with birdbaths and feeders filled with wild bird seed mixes. My website www.WildBirdSeedMart.com offers wild bird seed mixes,feeders and birdbaths to enhance the landscaping and beautify the yard while hepling toattract wild birds.