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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.