Transforming your garden into a sanctuary for birds starts with planting a variety of trees, shrubs, and flowers. A diverse selection of greenery will attract different bird species, offering food, shelter, and nesting opportunities. Whether your garden is large or small, here’s how to make it more bird-friendly.
Mature trees are among the most valuable habitats for birds, offering a rich variety of resources. They provide food such as acorns, nuts, berries, and seeds, as well as shelter and nesting sites. Native trees like oak, birch, beech, rowan, and willow are especially beneficial because they have evolved alongside local wildlife, creating a perfect ecosystem. These trees support a wide variety of insects, which are an important food source for many bird species, particularly during the breeding season. In contrast, non-native trees often fail to sustain the same biodiversity, limiting the food available to birds. By planting native trees, you help maintain a balanced and thriving habitat that supports birds and the wider ecosystem.
If you don’t have room for large native trees, fruit trees like apple, pear, crab apple, and plum are excellent alternatives. Not only do they produce fruit for birds, but they also attract insects. Dwarf varieties or specially cultivated fast-growing fruit trees can fit neatly into smaller gardens while providing the same benefits.
For those without space for trees, hedges are just as valuable and can be a lifeline for birds. Native hedges, such as hawthorn, privet, or laurel, provide vital shelter, food, and safe nesting sites. Dense hedges offer protection from predators and harsh weather, making them an ideal spot for birds to raise their young. With thousands of miles of hedgerows lost in the countryside over recent decades, planting even a small hedge in your garden helps restore this critical habitat. By including flowering or berry-producing hedge plants, you can also provide an important source of food throughout the year, supporting birds during nesting season and beyond.
While some non-native trees, such as sycamore, horse chestnut, and flowering cherry, are visually appealing and grow quickly, they don’t support the native insects that birds rely on for food.
Evergreen trees like Leylandii, with their dense foliage, can provide shelter for birds, but their rapid growth can overwhelm your garden if not properly managed.
Bushes and shrubs are fantastic additions to a bird-friendly garden. They are fast-growing, low-maintenance, and serve as both a source of food and a place for shelter. Birds often seek out dense shrubs for nesting, as they provide cover from predators and the elements.
Native shrubs are especially valuable because they produce fruits and berries that birds depend on, particularly in autumn and winter when other food sources are scarce. Some excellent choices include:
Hawthorn: A favourite for its dense growth, which offers secure nesting spots, and its bright red berries in autumn.
Holly: This iconic evergreen shrub provides glossy leaves for shelter and bright red berries in winter, offering vital food when little else is available.
Elder: Produces clusters of dark berries that attract birds like blackbirds, thrushes, and starlings.
Dog Rose: This wild rose provides both shelter and rose hips, a valuable winter food source.
Guelder Rose: A stunning option with red berries and rich foliage that also supports insects.
Blackthorn: Known for its sloe berries, which many birds enjoy.
While native shrubs are the best choice, some non-native options can also benefit birds, particularly for their dense foliage or nectar-rich flowers. Popular choices include:
Cotoneaster: Known for its bright berries and ability to attract waxwings and blackbirds.
Pyracantha (Firethorn): A dense, spiky shrub with vibrant berries that birds love.
Viburnum: Many species produce berries and fragrant flowers, while also offering excellent cover.
If space is limited, climbing plants are an excellent alternative to bushes and shrubs. They take up minimal ground space while still providing food and shelter for birds:
Ivy: One of the most versatile climbing plants, ivy offers year-round cover, flowers rich in nectar for pollinators, and berries for birds in late winter.
Clematis: Birds are attracted to the seeds of some clematis species, and its dense foliage is useful for nesting.
Honeysuckle: With its fragrant flowers and red berries, honeysuckle is a magnet for insects and birds alike.
Flowers can attract birds indirectly by supporting their food chain. Nectar-rich flowers such as buddleia and lavender attract pollinators like bees, wasps, and hoverflies, which in turn become a food source for birds. Plants can also attract birds directly with their seeds after flowering. Excellent seed-bearing plants include sunflowers, honesty, cornflowers, and foxgloves.
Certain flowers, such as primroses, attract caterpillars, while buddleia is a magnet for butterflies. Both caterpillars and butterflies play a crucial role in the ecosystem, with caterpillars being a key food source for chicks, especially blue tits and great tits. If you’ve installed a tit nest box, planting these flowers nearby will complement their habitat perfectly.
By planting a mix of nectar-producing and seed-bearing flowers, you’ll provide a rich and varied diet for garden birds throughout the year.
Your lawn can be an unexpected resource for birds. Worms, ants, and insects found in lawns attract robins, blackbirds, song thrushes, starlings, and even the occasional green woodpecker.
In hot weather, keep your lawn well-watered to encourage worms to surface, providing easy pickings for ground-feeding birds. In winter, scatter windfall fruit on your lawn for birds to forage.
Leaving a section of your lawn to grow long or turning part of it into a wildflower meadow will provide birds with shelter and attract insects.
By planting a variety of trees, shrubs, and flowering plants, you can create a haven for birds in your garden. Whether you have a sprawling space or a small urban plot, there are plenty of ways to provide food, shelter, and nesting opportunities. A little thought and planning can transform your garden into a thriving ecosystem where birds, and nature, can flourish.
