A lot of us create hostile environments for birds without knowing it during the time of year when gardens and yards are the most useful. Many people do not know that particular activities that are done while winter gardening can either attract or repel birds from considering that yard for a habitation. It is astounding how many of our habits in winter gardening that we think attract birds, actually cause birds to leave.
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Check PriceThe Clean-Up Obsession
Is it possible that we are misplacing our passion for tidy winter gardens? The winter clean-up that gives us a sense of relief can be creating a biological desert for birds. The dead plants, creeping vines, and fallen leaves are removed, but so are the winter buffet and shelter system for the birds.
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I have watched many garden and yard workers fall clean their yards and I realize they do not understand the value of the winter resources they are clearing. The seed heads cut down are actually natural bird feeders. The leaves that get bagged are active foraging sites for ground feeding foraging birds.
The True Cost of \"Perfect\" Plants
Surprisingly, ornamental, non-native winter plants create visually beautiful, yet ecologically barren, environments. While winter berry plants from Asia might have a festive look, the berries are largely indigestible to most native birds. Moreover, we are losing native vegetation that has served our local avifauna for thousands of years.
Consider these common winter garden mistakes:
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- Removing all dead plant material
- Cutting back every perennial to the ground
- Clearing away fallen berries and fruits
- Replacing native shrubs with exotic varieties
The water crisis we are causing
Many people forget a common mistake while winter gardening that has to do with water accessibility. Most gardeners put away their bird baths at the first sight of frost, little do they know that winter is the time that birds need reliable water sources the most. With winter freezing natural sources of water, birds depend on the water sources we have in our gardens for drinking and bathing.
To make matters worse, many of us **do not** even properly maintain the water we leave out. Empty bird baths just get left and become decorations in our yard. Bird baths that are not cleaned and emptied pose an even greater danger in winter as standing water freezes and becomes a danger. During the winter birds need to be able to access clean unfrozen water every day, especially during the coldest times of winter.
The Shelter Shortage
We create beautiful winter gardens – magazine style – but they will not protect wildlife from predators or the elements of winter. Those shaped and pruned shrubs? They used to provide shelter. The removed brush pile? It was a refuge for wildlife in winter.
Modern winter gardens often lack:
- Dense evergreen coverage
- Brush piles and natural debris
- Varied heights of vegetation
- Protected spaces near food sources
Wie Sie Ihren Garten vogelfreundlich und bienenfreundlich gestalten
The good news here is that creating a sanctuary for birds in winter does not equal no upkeep. These suggestions might help:
- Don't remove the seed heads from gray-headed coneflower, black-eyed susan and other native plant species.
- Create brush piles in discrete corners of your yard
- Maintain unfrozen water sources
- Keep some areas of leaves unraked
- Plant native shrubs that offer winter berries
The Thoughtful Balance
The best approach for winter garden care is finding the right balance, not abandonment. The ideal winter care garden post will detail winter garden care for aesthetics and for the important winter wildlife refuges. You can keep some areas a little more relaxed and natural while more structured areas that are nearer to your home.
Think about how our grandparents viewed winter gardens. They did not expect them to look perfect. They understood that nature, to thrive, needs some mess. By changing how we maintain our winters, we can create visually pleasing and life-sustaining areas.
Your garden's visitors reveal how healthy it is. The mistakes we make in winter gardening not only cause us to lose birds, but also the intricate ecological systems that have evolved over millennia. The good news is that the ecological gardening practices in winter are simple and will help to restore our gardens to the wildlife refuges they are meant to be.
