Gardening Articles: Landscaping :: Trees, Shrubs, & Vines
Landscaping for Winter Birds
by Amy Bartlett Wright
Colorful crabapples attract colorful birds -- both light up the winter landscape.
Gardeners routinely select trees and shrubs for their showy blossoms, fall color, or attractive form. You can also invite an abundance of birds to your garden by choosing plantings that provide shelter, food, and nesting sites for them. The birds will reward you by adding song, color, and flight to your landscape.
After flowering, plants create seeds and fruits. Migrating and overwintering birds depend upon these food sources for survival and to build up reserves for making their long migratory flights, so seeds and fruits should be allowed to stay on the plants. Providing a well-planned landscape offering shelter and a steady and varied supply of food will ensure regular visits from native and migratory birds throughout the growing season and into winter.