Shrubs for the Tweeties

Tell me what shrubs you have planted to attract birds...

All indigenous to my area.

Typical equestrienne.

I'm not sure if these are very bird-friendly, but here is a selection of what I've planted in the past two years:

Nandina domestica
Cotoneaster Tom Thumb
Abelia
Korean Boxwood
Wigela
lacecap hydrangea
Viburnum chindo awabuki
Hardy Gardenia
Nelly Stevens Holly
Beauty Berry
what else?

Hey wait!!! I'm an accidental owner! I've got fossilizing pasture pets and have the vet bills to prove it. By the way, I got to thinking about that hock sore and was wondering if you would be in a position to wrap it and unwrap it daily? What I mean is could you wrap it at night before he/she goes down to add an extra buffer and then unwrap it the following morning to let air at it? I don't particularly care for wrapping sores like that. All kinds of nasty things can breed under a bandage. The other thought is to have that cultured. You've been dealing with it for a while now I believe. You should probably try to find the forum we have here for horses. There have got to be a lot of peope over there who have actually dealt with a situation like this.

OK, I'll start with a favorite of mine. American Hazelnut (Corylus americana). Prefers full sun but will tolerate shade and fruits early. Blue Jays and Hairy Woodpeckers love it. Beaked Hazelnut (C. cornuta) is great too but I don't have that yet or if I do have it... I haven't a clue where I planted it.

Now... about your list. Go get the scientific names. If you don't know how to get them, I will help you but you have to let me know. Until then, I will say that you should probably ditch the Nandina domestica. Not exactly environmentally friendly.

Don't make me start another new thread! ( http://davesgarden.com/place/t/691487/ ) I bought a pair of hock wraps from Dover Saddlery. We're going to try just putting the wrap on at night, then taking it off for turn out. I put some goop on the sore, then covered it with a loose piece of cotton, then put the fleece-lined neoprene wrap over the top. I'll keep you posted on whether this works out.

I've got the botanical names for everything, but they're not burned on my brain, so I'll have to post them later (might take a couple days because I've got lots on the calendar tomorrow). I'm also going to look up your shrubs - hazlenut sounds intriguing. You are very high maintenance, Equilibrium. Let me guess... hmmm... Dressage Queen?? I promise to get you the list of plant names, and if you're nice, maybe I'll even torch that nandina.

It's sleepy-time now, so I'll try to check back in tomorrow. Nighty night.

This message was edited Feb 9, 2007 11:41 PM

I think that one gal may have hit it on the head. Pressure sore. I've not seen that tapeless wound wrap before. Looks interesting. I might try it but then again I have a bad habit of calling the vet when somebody sneezes wrong so maybe not. I tend to experiment a lot with plants but not with kids and pets. Thoughts on this would be that if there isn't marked improvement within about 10 days of buffering it, I'd get a culture. As luck would have it, on the eleventh day there would be marked improvement and the culture would be returned a week after that along with a nice big fat bill. Yup, that's usually my luck.

Really great that you have the botanical names on all your plants. Yes, please do post them. This will be fun.

Nope, not high maintenance in the least. I am the Queen of cheap and my husband has to beg me to shop some place else other than WalMart. Stinker doesn't like going to cocktail parties and such with me when I'm wearing a TJ Maxx original or K-Mart's finest. He's gotten over me telling people where I shop when they ask. I just love seeing faces of women twitch when they're wearing little $$$ sequin numbers and I'm in a blue light special or quadruple mark down. But sheesh, how else is a gal supposed to have money for vets.

Arabs

And if you're really nice to me, I'll tell ya how to nuke the Nandina. Oh my, that's catchy, "Nuke the Nandina". That could be another whole new thread.

Okay, you're not a DQ (but you did have me running around a lot!). I'll make my journal public so you can see what I've got growing here; I think it's nearly a complete list. I have lots to learn about bird-friendly shrubberies.

I have to head into the office today. That should be against the law.

Arabs are fun - I wish they came in extra large sizes because I'm TALL.

This message was edited Feb 10, 2007 8:58 AM

They do come in extra tall. Polish Arabs.

I'm scheduled out the wazoo for today too. I've got people back to back from about 10am to 4pm so I've got to go in today too. Oh what fun- not! Then this evening we've got one of those little cocktail/dinner parties to go to. Hmm, decisions decisions. Will it be the TJ Maxx original, K-Mart's finest, or the WalMart special.

TJ's, TJ's, TJ's!!!

How tall is tall??? My gelding is 16.2 and really wide and only ~just~ takes up my leg.

Have fun today and stay warm (assume you're teaching lessons?).

Took a quick look at your lists. Loved the photo of your back yard. There's another gal who rams in the plants like that in the gardening for wildlife threads named mrs_colla. I love that look of fullness with plants packed in here there and everywhere. I've got a couple areas that are coming along and are beginning to look close to your look but they haven't quite arrived yet. I'm trying to go for a cottage garden appearance but am failing miserably. I desperately want that "filled to the brim" look.

Oops, posting when you were posting, TJs it is... just for you and besides which, I hate having to decide what to wear. Two around 15 but probably not more than15.5 maybe. One Egyptian around 14 but maybe a little bit smaller. The gal up the road has some nice Warmbloods. There are a few Friesian and a spattering of Quarters around here now too but mostly Thoruoughbreds. No, I taught in the past at a college and it wasn't for me but when you're trying to pay bills to make ends meet, you'll subject yourself to almost anything. I like to eat and that was back when paying back student loans made it difficult to buy groceries. I'm beyond that now, frig and cupboards are full and vet bills aren't perpetually on a pay plan these days.

Kind of funny that you said my garden looked "full" - everything you see growing in that picture, except for the oak trees, was planted last season. I think the pic' is misleading. If you saw it in person, you'd see all of the bare spots. I lived in the U.K. for a bit and that's where my interest in gardening and landscape design really took off. Seems like ~everyone~ there is a very creative gardener. I'm definitely working toward a cottage garden feel in the back, with more formal design in front. Last year, for the first time, I started several perennials from seed as a frugal attempt to fill in the back beds. I'm doing the same again this year and am having a blast watching my little seedlings.

I live in the DC area, which is big fox hunt (fox chasing) country, hunters/jumpers, and dressage, but you can find all manner of horse breeds and riding styles here - that was one of the things that attracted me to the area. Very different from my upstate NY roots of quarters, arabs, mutts, and trails...

Friesians??? Oh man oh man. I LOVE THEM!!

Hmmmm. Shrubs for tweeties? Or are there equines in your trees?

Wrightie, I don't think the Hydrangea macrophylla will attract birds. I have a dwarf mophead (same species as lacecap). I've never seen a bird on it during winter but the mantises like hiding in the leaves in summer.

One thing that most shrubs do is to provide cover (protection of a sort). I think a lot of bird species need that. It's the shrubs that have fruit or seeds that develop in fall that will attract birds at this time of year.

Hi Greenkat,

I definitely do not have enough fruiting shrubs for the birds (or horsies), but would like to pick up a few. I'm fielding suggestions from the crowd. Hit me!

Nor do I have enough native plants & shrubs...

Wrightie-

Viburnum dentatum is a shrub I heard mentioned as a good native for attracting birds in this area. http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/2469/index.html

The dwarf cultivar "Blue Muffin" has received a lot of attention but checking the info in PlantFiles this may be just hype. http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/76469/index.html

Homestead Gardens had "Blue Muffin" last year.... I almost bought one.

Anyone out there own "Blue Muffin"?

Here's a link that you might find useful

http://www.nps.gov/plants/pubs/nativesMD/info.htm

My shrubs have only been in for 1-2 growing seasons, so they're quite small and aren't bringing in the birds just yet. I have seen a few birds going after perennial seeds though.

If you scroll down on this page

http://www.bbg.org/gar2/topics/plants/handbooks/nativealternatives/nativealternatives_weblist.html

you'll see invasive species and a native plant suggested for a replacement. This is also a very good book to own.

Thanks, terryr!

Think I've seen the first link before. It is on the Maryland Native Plant Society's website. Although I don't think I looked at it thoroughly. It has nifty charts for comparisons. Moisture and light requirements as well as height, bloom color and time of bloom all provided. Charts are according to region: costal, piedmont and mountain.

Wrightie- you might want to check it out.

Nice links terryr.

Greenkat & Terry, thanks for the links. I will be referring back to them quite a bit, I'm sure. I'm going to need to develop a small database and fill it full of all of these informative links! Who knew that stumbling upon Dave's Garden a few months ago would become a life changing event?

Equil, I left you a gift.

I saw that non-native gift. The mintue I clicked on the photo and realized what it was, I about choked. You will like it here wrtightie.

That big grey guy isn't the only one who likes his groceries... in case you couldn't tell.

The big gray sweetie is right up my alley.

Believe it or not, I just got called in to work. Here I was all ready to play online and start in on laundry and toilet bowl scrubbing activities and off I go, hopefully back in a few hours- ***poof***

Oh, Drats. And I was just getting excited for Play Group.

I'm home from work. Play Group time.

Well.. I managed to get lots done while you were out earning the bacon. I was a floor cleaning fool, did a kzillion loads of laundry, sorted through and threw away piles of miscellaneous debris. I even took a shower and put on clothes. I feel like a new woman. How was work, Dear?

Work was just peachy! Ha, earning bacon... so that's what it's called. I'll share that with my husband to validate why I wasn't home scrubbing toilets this morning. I've started more laundry. Are we lucky to have all these mounds of laundry or what! One thing I can tell you is that I brought a list with me of plants to mull over and I forgot it at work which is really irking me as I wanted to sit around and try to figure out what wildlife sustaining trees and shrubs I wanted to order from that particular nursery and I'm too lazy to drive back to get it to sit here and dream of what to buy to plant this coming season.

Serviceberry,amelanchier canadensis, is an excellent tree for attracting birds. The tree produces loads of edible fruit. I have one that is about ten years old and is only about eight feet in height. The leaves turn a red-orange in the fall.

Serviceberry fall photo.