Gardens are so much more
interesting when they are full of living things. Using natural methods
instead of chemicals means your yard can be a place of birdsong
and butterflies. Many migratory birds eat insects, so if you want
to enjoy the colorful warblers and tanagers, it pays not to spray.
Birds, like us, require
food, water and shelter. To make your yard attractive to birds,
plant a mix of conifers, broadleaved evergreen shrubs and deciduous
plants, including a number that have berries and seeds. Leave at
least a corner of the yard in a natural state, so there will be
cover for thicket-loving birds such as song sparrows and towhees.
You can attract chickadees and wrens by providing the appropriate
size of bird houses for nesting. Bird feeders and a bird bath will
generate even more avian activity.
Choosing the right flowering
plants as nectar sources in your herb garden or flower garden can
lure hummingbirds and butterflies to your yard. Many culinary herbs
such as fennel, sage, oregano, thyme and mint are attractive to
bees and butterflies. Some bright red, orange or pink flowers are
especially attractive to hummingbirds. In the vegetable garden,
climbing scarlet runner beans will bring in hummingbirds.
Here are a few specific
planting suggestions for our area:
For birds: Red
elderberry, black twinberry, evergreen huckleberry, serviceberry
and crabapple.
Especially for hummingbirds:
Red-flowering currant, poker plant, salmonberry, orange honeysuckle
vine (Lonicera ciliosa), penstemons, columbine, snapdragon, bee
balm, salvia and anise hyssop (Agastache).
For butterflies:
Sedum spectabile, wild lilac (Ceanothus), black-eyed susan, yarrow,
lupine, asters, oregano, lavender, butterfly weed, nasturtium, purple
coneflower, and red valerian (Centranthus ruber).
Check out our Coastal Resources page to see who sells
seeds and starters.
For more information
on this and related topics, one excellent source is a book called
Naturescaping: a Landscaping Partnership With Nature, published
in 2001 by Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW). It is
available at the ODFW office in South Beach for $18.00.
Another excellent work
is Landscaping for Wildlife in the Pacific Northwest, by
Russell Link. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press, 1999.
320 pp. (paperback) $29.00. It is available at libraries and bookstores.
