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Tips to Prepare Bird Food That Attracts Birds

Birds need to consume high amounts of calories every day to survive, and a garden with right seeds and proper feeder helps wild birds to thrive.

Birds need to consume mind-boggling amounts of calories every day just to survive, and feeders help wild birds to thrive.

For example, a chickadee eats one-third of their body weight per day, whilst a hummingbird burns off around 10,000 calories in 24 hours (that’s four times more than the average man!). Providing easy access to seeds is a simple but important way to support native birds and help them flourish.

Greenfinches and Goldfinches on and around a bird feeder

Toss into the mix the energy demands of raising chicks, long migratory flights, or even molting and you see why bird feeders matter. It could be vital all year round, from the harsh weather of winter to the baked hard ground of summer, because life’s tough for wild birds.

Choosing the right birdfeeder

There are many different types of bird feeders, and the right choice depends on the bird species and what they eat.

Traditional bird table

This is a tray or platform raised above the ground. The bird table is popular for a reason, in that it’s suitable for all foods and accessible to most birds. The traditional bird table is mounted on a pole, but there is also a wide variety of hanging platforms available, with the advantage of being harder for predators to access.

Garden birds feeding from a bird table

Trays

Simply place a tray feeder are placed on the ground and to limit the mess when feeding ground-dwelling birds. Just add corn, peanuts, or sunflower seeds to attract doves, ducks, pheasants, and quail.

Small birds sitting in a feeding tray

Tube feeders

As the name suggests, tube feeders are a hanging tube (to contain the seed), with feeding ports for the birds. When made from metal mesh, tube feeders allow birds to hang in a natural feeding position. Birds likely to visit include chickadees, finches, sparrows, titmice, and even some larger birds such as jays.

Coal tit feeding from a tube feeder

Nyger feeders

These are a similar design to tube feeders but made from a fine gauge mesh. This contains the small nyger seeds and allows birds with small beaks, such as finches, to get at the seeds.

Lesser redpoll feeding from a Nyger feeder

Hopper feeders

Hopper feeders are a container that stores enough seed for several days. The food is accessed via a tray or feeding ports at the bottom. Hoppers have the advantage of keeping the seed dry in wet weather, but on the downside may encourage condensation and spoilage. Birds found at hopper feeders include buntings, cardinals, chickadees, finches, grosbeaks, jays, and titmice.

Reat tit, long tailed tit and blue tit on a bird feeder

Nectar feeders

This feeder is different in that they hold liquid nectar for hummingbirds or oriels to drink via sipping ports. Nectar feeders can be hung from tree branches, mounted on hooks, or even attached to a window.

A juvenile hummingbird approaches a nectar feeder

Suet feeders

To attract woodpeckers and nuthatches, suet (beef or sheep fat) feeders are the way to go. These are a hanging mesh basket that allows the bird to peck at the suet inside. The bird can comfortably grip the feeder, like a woodpecker pecking at a tree trunk.

A downy woodpecker feeding from a suet feeder

Offer the right birdseed

Not all seeds are suitable for all birds and indeed offering cheap bird food bulked up with fillers may harm certain species.

Choosing a good seed mix

Healthy seed means healthy birds, so offer good quality seeds that are fresh and free from spoil. Avoid mixes bulked up with cheap fillers such as lentils, split peas, milo (birds rarely eat it in the wild), rice, and grains. Also, avoid foods containing crushed dog biscuits, as these should not be eaten dry.

Check the mix looks fresh and is free from dust, mold, insects, empty shells, or debris; and that the seeds have not been treated with insecticides which are toxic to birds.

A blue tit and its food

Seed-by-seed

Different species prefer different seeds, and offering a variety increases the range of feathered visitors to the table. Here is a brief guide:

Black sunflower seeds

These high-fat, slim seeds with an easy-open husk are firm favorites with blackbirds, cardinals, chickadees, doves, finches, grackles, grosbeaks, juncos, nutcrackers, nuthatches, and house sparrows.

Striped sunflower seeds

An excellent all-round seed just like the black sunflower seed, but the shell is harder to crack. This may discourage smaller birds, such as finches and sparrows from feeding, but remain hugely popular with cardinals, grackles, jays, and woodpeckers.

Hulled sunflower seeds

Sunflower seeds without a tough outer hull are a valuable easy-access, high-fat food that attracts a wide variety of birds including doves, goldfinches, titmice, and towhees, to name but a few. The lack of a shell also makes for less mess on the ground.

Whole and cracked corn

Whole kernel corn is too big for smaller birds to eat but great for their larger cousins such as crows, ducks, grackles, jays, and ravens. Cracked corn, as the name suggests, is smaller, making it suitable for blackbirds, cowbirds, juncos, quail, ravens, starlings, and towhees.

Nyger Seeds

Nyger (thistle) seeds are a small black seed, imported from India or Ethiopia. These seeds spoil easily so it’s important to source fresh, heat-sterilized varieties. Use these to attract birds such as the chickadee, doves, goldfinch, house finch, purple finch, and pine siskin.

Peanuts

Peanuts have a lower fat content than sunflower seeds and are ever popular as bird food. Shell-on peanuts are only suitable for birds with powerful beaks such as magpies, crows, and some woodpeckers. Hulled peanuts should only be fed unsalted, and are loved by bushtits, chickadees, cowbirds, crows. grackles, magpies, and ravens.

Safflower ceeds

Small but with a surprisingly tough shell, this power-packed seed is too much like hard work for grackles and starlings who prefer easier pickings. However, safflower seeds are nourishing for more determined birds including many finches, cardinals, chickadees, nuthatches, and titmice.

Suet

Although not a seed, suet deserves a special mention as a good source of energy for many wild birds such as chickadees, nuthatches, and woodpeckers. Just be careful to remove any plastic netting before putting the suet in a feeder, as birds may become tangled.

Sugar water

Sugar water in a nectar feeder attracts hummingbirds and orioles. Commercial nectar formulations are available, but a home-made version using one-part white sugar to four parts water is just fine.

White proso millet

White proso millet is the equivalent of millet caviar and much loved by ground-feeding birds, such as cardinals, doves, juncos, sparrows, and towhees. Try to avoid red millet, which is inferior and may go uneaten.

Where to put the birdfeeder

When choosing the best spot, think like a bird looking for shelter, peace, and safety. Choose a quiet, sheltered spot in the yard, where the birds can to feed undisturbed.

Also, try mounting the feeder on a shepherd’s hook or similar, making it more difficult for predators to reach them.

Birds are creatures of habit and will become confused if an existing bird feeder is moved. To attract yet more birds to the yard, place additional feeders in new locations.

Fertilizing D

Your _COMMON_NAME_ is growing slowly and leaves are dull and limp? Time to fertilize it. A water-soluble fertilizer with balanced NPK or high nitrogen formule is a good choice. Providing nitrogen helps plant leaves grow stronger and produce vivid green color.

Water-soluble fertilizers generally include ready-to-use,water soluble granules,Concentrate Liquid Fertilizer, etc. Ready-to-use type can be used directly, while water soluble granules/Concentrate Liquid Fertilizer needs to be diluted first. Simply spray water-soluble fertilizers on the leaves, especially the large ones. It will be absorbed through the leaves. Alternatively, you can add some fertilizer to the water when you water the soil, and the plants will absorb it through the roots.

Slow-release fertilizers generally include Smart-Release granules/spikes and compose. Slow-release fertilizers release fertilizers slowly, providing nutrients to plants continuously. When one plant are newly planted or repotted, slow-release fertilizers can be added to the soil as a basal fertilizer. When the plant grows stably, bury the slow-release fertilizer in the soil around the plant regularly or simply sprinkle the slow-release fertilizer on the soil surface, and the fertilizer will be released slowly with water.

Fertilizing C

Your _COMMON_NAME_ isn’t blooming as it should be? Or just few blooms with little buds? Maybe its time to fertilize. A water-soluble fertilizer with high phosphorus formule would be a good choice. Providing phosphorus helps plants to produce more, larger flowers with longer period of time.

Fertilizing B

“Like all other plants, _COMMON_NAME_ need nutrients to help them grow healthily and beautifully, Surprisingly though not many people think they need fertilizer for their plants. However, most plants do not have a high demand for fertilizer. Feed them with suitable amount or it might burn the root of your _COMMON_NAME_. A slow-release fertilizer with balanced NPK or high potassium formula is always a good choice. Providing potassium helps plants to grow stronger and blossom eye-catching flowers.”

Fertilizing A

Shrubs and trees receive nutrients in nature by recycling organic materials such as fallen leaves.

In urban landscapes, your _COMMON_NAME_ may lack nutrients because fallen leaves are not recycled to provide organic materials to the soil.

Fertilize plants can provide nutrients in a timely manner and enhance the tolerance to hot summers and cold winters, as well as resistance to pests and diseases.

Watering C

_COMMON_NAME_ plants are a type of drought-tolerant plants. It is recommended to wait until the soil is very dry before watering. Excessive accumulation of water in the soil can easily lead to root rot. Before watering, a finger can be inserted into the soil 2-3 joints. If the finger cannot feel moisture, it means the soil is dry, and watering is appropriate at this time. If there is still moisture, test and water again the next week.

Watering from the top

The simplest and the best way to water most plants:

1. Pour water near the roots, as they are what absorb the water.

2. Avoid pouring water on leaves and stems, because the extra moisture will make them more susceptible to diseases.

3. Continue pouring until the water runs out through the drainage holes in the bottom of the pot.

4. If you have a saucer under the flowerpot, make sure you dispose of any collected water afterward to avoid excess moisture and root rot.

As for potted plants, the amount of water to use should be between ¼ and ⅓ of the pot’s volume.

Watering from the bottom

If you grow _COMMON_NAME_ in pots, it’s best to perform bottom watering:

1. Place your potted plant in a plant saucer/container, and fill the saucer with water.

2. Keep filling the saucer/container until the water stops getting absorbed into the soil through drainage holes.

3. Dispose of any excess water from the saucer or move the potted plant out of the container to avoid excess moisture and root rot.

This method is also suitable for when the soil is compacted due to dryness, or when watering from above cannot make the soil fully absorb moisture.

Watering B

_COMMON_NAME_ plants do not have strict water requirements and can tolerate short periods of dryness or wetness. It is recommended to wait until the soil is slightly dry before watering. Before watering, you can insert your index finger into the soil 1-2 joints. If you can’t feel the water in your fingers, it means that the soil has begun to dry, and watering is appropriate at this time. If not dry, test and water again every 2 days.

Watering from the top

The simplest and the best way to water most plants:

1. Pour water near the roots, as they are what absorb the water.

2. Avoid pouring water on leaves and stems, because the extra moisture will make them more susceptible to diseases.

3. Continue pouring until the water runs out through the drainage holes in the bottom of the pot.

4. If you have a saucer under the flowerpot, make sure you dispose of any collected water afterward to avoid excess moisture and root rot.

As for potted plants, the amount of water to use should be between ¼ and ⅓ of the pot’s volume.

Watering from the bottom

If you grow _COMMON_NAME_ in pots, it’s best to perform bottom watering:

1. Place your potted plant in a plant saucer/container, and fill the saucer with water.

2. Keep filling the saucer/container until the water stops getting absorbed into the soil through drainage holes.

3. Dispose of any excess water from the saucer or move the potted plant out of the container to avoid excess moisture and root rot.

This method is also suitable for when the soil is compacted due to dryness, or when watering from above cannot make the soil fully absorb moisture.

Watering A

Watering

_COMMON_NAME_ plants are water-loving plants. It is recommended to keep the soil moist, but not too wet. You can touch the soil surface with your fingers before watering, and if your fingers feel dry, watering is appropriate. If your fingers are wet, the soil is wet and can be tested and watered the next day.

Watering from the top

The simplest and the best way to water most plants:

1. Pour water near the roots, as they are what absorb the water.

2. Avoid pouring water on leaves and stems, because the extra moisture will make them more susceptible to diseases.

3. Continue pouring until the water runs out through the drainage holes in the bottom of the pot.

4. If you have a saucer under the flowerpot, make sure you dispose of any collected water afterward to avoid excess moisture and root rot.

As for potted plants, the amount of water to use should be between ¼ and ⅓ of the pot’s volume.

Watering from the bottom

If you grow _COMMON_NAME_ in pots, it’s best to perform bottom watering:

1. Place your potted plant in a plant saucer/container, and fill the saucer with water.

2. Keep filling the saucer/container until the water stops getting absorbed into the soil through drainage holes.

3. Dispose of any excess water from the saucer or move the potted plant out of the container to avoid excess moisture and root rot.

This method is also suitable for when the soil is compacted due to dryness, or when watering from above cannot make the soil fully absorb moisture.

How to Illuminate Your Garden at Night

When the sun goes down for the day, it doesn’t mean you need to head inside. Adding creative lighting to your garden in the following ways allows you to enjoy your outside space after dark.

For many people, their backyard garden is a place to sit and relax, to unwind and enjoy the peace and beauty of their outdoor space. Adding light sources to your landscape lets you enjoy your plants regardless of the time. Sitting in your garden in the evening hours, with everything bathed in the soft glow of lighting, might become one of your favorite ways to spend your free time.

There are many different ways to illuminate your garden that fit your decor style and budget. Choose to create casual elegance with string lights or lanterns or a more modern aesthetic with carefully placed walkway lighting and stylish lamp posts. Most lighting fixtures are available as solar-powered options or must connect to an electrical outlet.

String Lights Along Your Fence

A simple way to light your garden is by stringing lights along your wooden privacy fence. String lights come in many bulb shapes, sizes, and colors and are easy to install with hooks or even nails in the cross beams. For an extra bit of fun, look for light sets with a controller that adjusts their brightness or allows them to twinkle.

Line a Walkway With Landscape Lights

A common way to illuminate your garden is by placing landscape lights along a paved walkway or garden path. These shorter lights add just a touch of light low to the ground and bring attention to beautiful stonework or pretty flowering groundcover plants. You can buy them in various shapes and sizes, and they are available in models that are easy to move around or can be permanently installed.

Hang Chinese Lanterns for a Festive Mood

Hanging Chinese lanterns from your trees, shrubs, or fence brings a festive flair to your garden. Add inexpensive colored lanterns to decorate for an upcoming themed party, or go with simple white lanterns for an elegant mood. Choose from paper lanterns for mild climates or purchase weather-resistant fixtures to keep out the rain and wind.

Highlight Trees from Underneath

To highlight beautiful trees in your yard and garden, use uplighting to cast light from the ground up into the foliage. Palm trees and other ornamental trees with intricately textured bark look beautiful at night when showcased with ground lighting.

Lights can be hardwired to a switch inside the house, or opt for ones that automatically turn on at dusk for a hassle-free light source.

Garland Lighting Under Tree Canopy

Backyard trees provide the perfect backdrop for simple garland lighting. String twinkle lights or Edison lights from the bottom tree branches for overhead lighting. They add a quaint light source to your space that can take on the appearance of lightning bugs flitting through the air.

Candlelit Jars Tucked in Flower Beds

If you’re looking for a romantic, bohemian light source, beautiful glass jars with candles are a great, inexpensive idea for garden lighting. You can purchase jars in many sizes and even paint them with high-heat paint if you want to add color to your space. Once you set the jars in the desired locations, pop a regular candle or an LED-flickering light into them for a soft glow.

Use Insect-Repelling Torches for Double-Duty

Upright torches help to illuminate your garden space while also keeping pesky mosquitoes and other flying insects at bay when filled with insect-repelling fuel. Choose from the iconic bamboo torches to bring a tropical feel to your garden, or buy sleek wrought-iron and glass fixtures to add an air of modernism and sophistication.

Insect-repelling torches can be placed around a patio during parties or backyard barbecues and then moved back into the garden when you aren’t entertaining.

Create an Ambient Glow With Globe Lights

Globe lights are available in many colors and sizes to create a soft, ambient glow throughout the garden. Choose from frosted globes or hand-blown glass orbs in bright, bold colors, depending on your taste.

They look beautiful paired with tall ornamental grasses or tucked in along well-manicured hedges, bringing a new shape and texture to the landscape. Add a variety of sizes to complement different plant heights, or use one standard fixture throughout the garden for uniformity.

Illuminate Your Water Feature

A water feature in your garden — whether it be a fountain, koi pond, or cascading waterfall — is already a beautiful focal point in your landscape. Adding lighting around it elevates it to a show-stopping piece enjoyed both day and night.

Install a combination of short solar lanterns or path lights around the edge of the pond and a spotlight that shines up onto the fountain or waterfall to bring it into focus. You can also sink waterproof lights into the bottom of the pool to illuminate fish, showcasing their bright colors after dark.

Install Solar Lamp Posts

To create the upscale look and feel of an elegant urban garden, install upright lamp posts along your walkway or tucked in along your flowering shrubs. Choose from modern stainless steel designs or look for old-fashioned lamps to bring a feel of an 1800s gas-light district to your backyard.

No matter your style or budget, there are many different ways to bring your garden to life at night with lighting! Illuminating your outdoor space is a great way to enjoy the outdoors after hours.

Top Tips for Choosing the Right Mulch for Your Garden

Adding the proper mulch to your garden will define the space and create visual interest, all while helping you grow healthier plants. Here’s how to choose the right type.

When it comes to making a memorable garden, plants are only part of the equation. To truly define the space and keep things looking their best, you’ll want to lay down mulch.

When applied properly, mulch offers many garden benefits. It prevents soil from blowing away, helps the ground retain moisture, and suppresses weed growth for less maintenance in the long term. Not only does this form of ground protection make gardening easier, it’s one of the easiest ways to add color and texture to your growing space.

Choosing the right mulch can be overwhelming. Keep reading to learn about different mulch options and application techniques to get the best results for your situation.

Common Types of Mulch

All garden mulches can be divided into two main categories: organic and inorganic materials. Both have their advantages and disadvantages for plant growth and aesthetics.

Organic Mulches

These kinds of mulches are made from natural materials. They will break down into the soil over time and will need to be reapplied regularly to maintain their appearance.

Wood Chips or Shredded Bark

By far the most popular choice, wood chips make for an easy mulch option. You can buy them by the bag or cubic yard and spread them directly over plant beds. Popular varieties include pine and cedar, and the chips come in a variety of reds, browns, blacks, and more (both natural and dyed).

It’s also possible to request fresh wood chips or shredded bark from local tree-cutting services or to make your own from trees on your property. Plan to apply wood chip layers several inches thick, and to replenish them every few years as they break down into the soil.

Straw or Hay

Ideal for annuals or a vegetable garden, straw and hay can protect your soil for a season and break down before the next growing season starts. It adds a crisp look to the bed while protecting soil from evaporation and weed growth.

Note: Keep straw away from plant stems, so you don’t cause them to rot or encourage slugs and other pests.

Pine Straw

Made from bales of dried needles from the southeastern longleaf pine, pine straw makes for an attractive reddish-brown mulch with a grassy appearance. Note that it will make soil slightly acidic as it breaks down, meaning it’s best for acid-loving plants like azaleas and rhododendrons.

Cocoa Shell Mulch

Brown and smelling of chocolate, this form of mulch is a byproduct of chocolate making. Apply it up to two inches deep for a distinctive framing for your beds. Just note that applying too much can trigger mold growth, and that dogs and wild animals tend to try to eat it.

Inorganic Mulches

The appeal of inorganic mulches is that you can apply them once and know they will stay in your garden bed with minimal maintenance. However, they also don’t do much to improve soil health in the long term. Here are the most popular options.

Gravel, Pebbles, or Stones

Stones and gravel provide a striking, permanent landscaping solution. They are typically applied on perennial beds that are lined with landscaping fabric to suppress weeds. You can choose from various colors and sizes, ranging from pea gravel to smooth river rocks.

Note that prices tend to increase with larger rock sizes, and that removing rock mulch is both costly and labor-intensive.

Glass Mulch

If sea glass fits your style, consider using large chunks of tumbled glass as mulch. This eye-catching material is a better choice for small spaces or as a way to accent rock mulch.

Crushed Shells

For those living near the coast, seashells make for a striking garden mulch that adds small amounts of calcium to the soil. You can collect them at the beach or buy them in bulk at garden supply stores.

Lava Rock

Lava rock appeals as a landscaping material because it’s lightweight (meaning, easy to spread) and holds onto water. You can find it in shades of red, brown, gray, or black, although black might absorb too much heat and be unsafe for surrounding plants.

Plastic Mulch

For those looking for the lowest maintenance mulch available, it’s hard to beat black plastic. It won’t add much from an aesthetics standpoint, though this artificial barrier creates clean lines and suppresses weeds better than any other material.

For this reason, many vegetable gardeners use black plastic as a temporary mulch early in the growing season — it prevents weed growth while warming the soil in the weeks before planting.

You’ll need to cut holes in this mulch when it’s time for planting, so it tends to work best for perennials.

Note: Using plastic around trees and shrubs can affect their long-term health by preventing the roots from accessing oxygen and water.

5 Tips for Using Mulch in the Garden

The way you use mulch will make a difference in the final result. Here are tips to keep in mind.

Cover the whole landscape: Patchy, sparse mulch is a bad look. Keep things cohesive by incorporating a thick layer throughout all the garden beds.

Adjust the thickness: Keep things pleasing to the eye by tapering the mulch thickness as you approach plants and pathways. Not only will this prevent them from suffocating, but it creates a cleaner look over the whole bed.

Clean out old mulch: If you’re re-mulching a garden bed, it’s best to remove some of the old mulch to prevent bulk. This is especially important if switching colors or mulch types.

Cover all bare soil: there’s no benefit to having bare dirt throughout your garden beds. Even spaces with annual flowers should be covered with a light, biodegradable mulch such as straw.

Prep well beforehand: Best success with mulch depends on the steps you take before applying it. Do your research ahead of time to determine whether the mulch material you chose will do best with landscaping fabric applied beneath it or whether you can use it directly on bare soil.