Creating a Sustainable Bird-Friendly Garden

Creating Sustainable Bird-Friendly Gardens for Your Clients On the Sly

by Nina A. Koziol

They’re here. Millions of them. Songbirds, warblers, orioles, wrens, robins — you name it. They’re in parks, golf courses, ponds, lakes and streams, in prairies and woodlands, and in residential landscapes. Some are just passing through on their way north. Some will stick around. All are hungry. Your crew members hear them in the early morning when they’re heading to a job site. That’s because the males start singing their heads off at dawn to attract a mate. (The birds, not the crew members.)

We bet it’s the rare client (if any) who calls you and says, “Hey, I’d like a bird-friendly landscape.” Your clients may have heard the doom-and-gloom drumbeat over the plight of bees and native insects, but few are likely to ask how they can help stem the downward trend on their own property. As landscape contractors, why not do it for them even if all they want is a nice place to hang out and entertain? We are the green industry, after all.

“I select the appropriate plants as they fit into my designs and I definitely lean toward more natural plantings,” says Bruce Davey, an ISA-certified arborist and horticulturist/designer at Fleck’s Landscape in Wheeling. When choosing plants, Davey considers what they have to offer besides multi-season interest or color, texture or hardiness. And he leans toward natives, noting that the flowers, leaves, seeds, fruits, nutlets, berries and insects attracted to those plants are important food for birds. Insects are especially important for nesting species in the spring and early summer. That’s when birds are on the hunt for caterpillars, moths and beetles to feed their young. According to Doug Tallamy, author of “The Nature of Oaks,” the caterpillars of more than 900 species of moths and butterflies use oak leaves for food and there’s no other genus that comes close. And while the thought of insects munching on their trees might turn off homeowners, the leaf damage typically goes unnoticed. By the way, Illinois is home to about 2,000 species of moths and butterflies. As the seasons change, so do food sources. “American Linden provides seeds while oaks have acorns and insects,” Davey said. “Hackberry fruit can persist through winter and American hornbeam has nutlets.” He’s used common winterberry, which offers fruits from fall into winter, as well as spicebush, fragrant sumac, lead plant, coralberry, hop hornbeam and American hazelnut. “Buttonbush has nutlets, common witch hazel has seeds, and smooth and staghorn sumac have fruits.” For Jane Grillo, customer service rep at Midwest Groundcovers, if you choose carefully, you can include plants in your projects that not only look great but add diversity to the landscape and benefit wildlife throughout the year, starting in spring during the great bird migration. “I like Virginia bluebells and lilacs because they offer an early source of nectar. And people don’t always think of them for pollinators.”

Grillo says it’s not only native plants that serve bees but non-native plants and cultivars as well. “Geranium ‘Rozanne’ has a long bloom time and is a great nectar source. I have had bumble bees on it in October!” When it comes to peren-

nials, some of her top picks are rudbeckia, liatris, sneeze weed (Helenium autumnale) and asters for their long, lateseason bloom. “Goldenrods are a top nectar source and there are many varieties in a range of sizes and soil preferences.” Check out the Chicago Botanic Garden’s evaluation of goldenrods here: chicagobotanic.org/plantinfo/goldenrod

Habitat Helper

Landscape designer Denise Sandoval, of Good-Natured Landscapes in Naperville, fills a real niche market. Unlike many homeowners who prefer a weed-free, deep green turf and the neat-and-tidy-everything-pruned landscape, her clients are a special breed that want to attract wildlife. For one client who travels south in winter to bird watch, Sandoval is designing a bird habitat around the home using all natives. “Most native plants attract birds because of the insects, seeds or berries they offer. Some provide shelter from predators and nesting sites whether they are planted as individual plants, in thickets, or part of a habitat garden. Native oaks are an example of a keystone species that provide for so many wildlife in the way of caterpillars, acorns and shelter.”

But it’s not just about choosing the right plants. “There are other habitat and ecosystem components to consider like not using pesticides and providing water especially during drought and in the winter. There’s the removal of invasive plants that aren’t nutritional like bayberry, buckthorn, Japanese honeysuckles and ornamental pear.”

Her clients also don’t mind if things are not totally tidy. “My designs incorporate dead wood, snags and brush piles.” All of which provide habitat for over-wintering bees and mourning cloak butterflies, for starters. She encourages clients to leave fallen leaves on the ground where the decaying carpet of foliage creates a habitat for insects and adds organic matter to the soil. “Leaving the previous year’s plant material like stems, twigs, vines, leaves, bark and seed fluff — like that of milkweed, anemone, thistle — provides nesting material.”

Besides oaks, some of Sandoval’s favorite woodies include Cornus alternifolia, smooth serviceberry (Amelanchier laevis), Lindera benzoin, and the native elderberry (Sambucus canadensis). “Given the right spot, elderberry can look gorgeous in a garden.”

Food for Flocks

There are many native perennials from which to choose, but Sandoval says her list supports a large number of caterpillars and other insects as well as seeds, nectar or berries for birds. “When planted together, similar to a prairie or woodland habitat, they can also create shelter and nesting sites. I see many birds hunkering down in my prairie garden and eating seeds during the winter.” • Aster (Symphyotrichum spp.) • Rudbeckia spp. • Goldenrod (Solidago spp.) • Penstemon digitalis and P. hirsutus • Joe-Pye Weed (Eutrochium purpureum) • Bee Balm (Monarda fistulosa) • Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis) • Common blue violet (Viola sororia) • American sedges (Carex spp.) • Golden Alexanders (Zizia aurea)

Dive into bird identification with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology: cornell.edu/home