Hedges are a common sight in the garden. When they are planted, emphasis is placed primarily on beauty and ease of care. Hardly anyone thinks about what they mean for our native bird life. They are both a place of refuge and a source of food. However, not always!
Birds like hawthorn
Native shrubs preferred
There are numerous native shrub species, each feeding more than 30 different species of birds. And there are shrubs related to them, settled from afar, which hardly any bird visits. No wonder, since the local flora and fauna have coordinated with each other over a long period of time.
Therefore, if you want to plant a hedge to create an ecological niche for bird life, you should approach the selection of hedge plants with the utmost care. Flowering and bearing fruit alone is not enough.
popular plant species
The plants listed below are particularly popular with birds, but by no means the only ones:
- European euonymus
- buckthorn
- Common juniper
- dog rose
- Red Dogwood
- Black elder
- grape elderberry
- rowanberry
- hawthorns
- Wild Blackberry
Rowan and black elder top the hit list as their berries feed more than 60 species of birds. Even the European euonymus and red dogwood, who bring up the rear, are visited by 24 different bird species.
Which speaks against some species
If a bird hedge is to be created in a private garden, some suitable types of plants sometimes have to be dispensed with. For example, the alder buckthorn is poisonous to us humans and unsuitable for a family garden. Others, such as rowan, do not harmonize with some fruit tree varieties.
plant bird hedge
The best time to plant a bird hedge is October and November, provided it is a deciduous shrub. Evergreen specimens, on the other hand, should be planted in the summer months of August or September. Make sure to comply with the minimum distances to neighboring properties regulated in state law.
- Dig a planting hole twice the size of the root ball
- Enrich excavation with compost
- leave a distance of 1.5 m between individual plants
- plant smaller shrubs at the end of the hedge
- Water generously and compact the soil
tips
You can set up a bird bath about 3 m away. This way the singing animals not only get delicious food, but also fresh water and a bathing opportunity.