Garden with a Bird Bath

Garden with a Bird Bath

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A bird bath can be popular with our feathered friends and be a focal point in the garden. If creating a new bed, for plantings, that will have a bird bath as a centre piece locate the bath just off centre. Work into the soil suitable compost  about 4 inches of garden compost will give the bed a good start.

Plant suggestions

  • Use plants of varied heights and colours and bear in mind you are trying to attract native bird species.
  • For the back of the bed try a Persian lilac growing upto 10 feet. Syringia Persica has fragrant mauve flowers.
  • If there is a wall or sturdy fence try Virginia creeper Parthenocissus tricuspidata with it’s red autumn leaves and hiding place for the birds.
  • Tall scented plants include Sweet Rocket Hesperis matronalis, Myrrhis odorata and Tobacco plant Nicotiana alata.
  • For light colours try Lamb’s Ears Stachys byzantina with fuzzy foliage, Verbascum bombycifereum and the white racemes of Eremurus stenophyllus the Foxtail Lily. I also have the purple and the white flowering Lychnis.
  • Medium sized  plants include Nepta Cat Mint and Stokes Aster and perhaps a white Rose.
  • At the front of the border and around the bird bath prostrate juniper horizontalis with some Trilliums would look good or thyme, Helianthemum Sun roses.
  • I have some fountain grass near my bird bath and you could try other grasses to give movement.

Cultivation

  • Just because you are trying to attract wild life it is not an excuse to leave things untidy, deadhead and edge at least once a month.
  • Mulch perhaps with bark chippings or leave a patch for a dry dust bath.
  • Fertilise to encourage flowers as scent and colour appeal to bird just as they do to us.
  • Think about seeds for the birds in winter in  anearby part of the garden.
  • A nearby hedge can also work wonders in trying to attract birds.

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  1. Pingback: Gardening Products » Blog Archive » Best Bird Baths

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