Birds make an important contribution to our ecosystem - so it is worthwhile to create retreats for the feathered garden dwellers. Introducing 15 native shrubs for birds to expand their habitat.
For many people, birdsong is the most beautiful sound in their garden. But watching the lively musicians is also great fun. But the question quickly arises of how to attract birds to your garden. Native shrubs are ideal for birds: They offer hiding places, breeding places and a suitable food supply. In this article you can find out which shrubs are particularly suitable for birds and what else you should consider when creating a bird-friendly garden.
The ideal habitat for birds
Birds are best lured into your own garden by offering them a habitat that is as natural as possible with sources of retreat and nesting sites as well as various food sources. The best way to do this is with native shrubs for birds: In contrast to exotic ornamental plants, these not only have a decorative value, but also an ecological benefit as a source of food and habitat. Hedges and bushes with thorns and dense branches are particularly popular with birds, as they offer reliable protection against predators such as birds of prey. Shrubs, which provide natural food sources such as berries, are also popular with many animals. However, you should not forget to plant flowering plants: an insect-friendly garden is also good for birds, because they need the beetles as food for themselves and their chicks. Seed mixtures such as the Plantura Beneficial Magnet are particularly practical for creating a bird-friendly garden - the large number of plants contained in them ensure a rich supply of food for birds throughout the year and thus support the feathered animals.
In addition to choosing the right hedges and shrubs for birds, other management in the garden is also important. Naturalness scores above all here: Uncut shrubs, piles of leaves and clippings attract insects and birds alike and thus provide food and shelter. Who, however, not hisIf you want to let the whole garden run wild, you should think about creating a "wild corner" in the back of the garden. Even small natural areas can serve as a retreat for birds and thus increase the bird population throughout the garden. On the other hand, you should stay away from chemical pesticides and mineral fertilizers, as these often have a negative effect on the insects and thus also on the birds in your garden. Therefore, it is better to use harmless alternatives like the ones we offer in the Plantura shop. To make your garden even more attractive to birds, you can hang incubators and set up small bird baths. A feeding station, such as a self-made bird feeder house and the offer of bird seed make the garden more attractive for birds.
If you want to offer birdseed, you should keep some distance to hedges and bushes. Because the low-growing vegetation allows predators, such as house cats, to sneak up unnoticed. It is better to set up a feeding station two to three meters away from the hedge so that the birds can keep an eye on their surroundings while they are feeding. And if a predator does sneak up on the free-standing feeding place, the birds will quickly find refuge in the nearby hedge. Since most hedges bear juicy berries in late year, the best way to complement the wild birds' diet is with grain feed. Our Plantura sunflower seeds, for example, offer species-appropriate, high-energy winter food with an extra load of important nutrients.
Native shrubs for birds: These hedges are suitable
Bird-friendly shrubs are an absolute must if you want to make your garden more attractive to feathered animals. Here is a list of shrubs and hedges for birds that have proven useful in the garden.
1. Common barberry (Berberis vulgaris): The barberry attracts numerous insects with its flowers and offers an excellent refuge for birds thanks to its long, strong thorns. The red berries of the hedge plant are also excellent winter food for birds.
2. Black Elder (Sambucus nigra): The berries of the black elder are a popular food source for over 60 bird species in late summer. The bird-friendly shrub is also often used as a nesting place and is also a magnet for insects.
3.Rowanberry (Sorbus aucuparia): The rowanberry is a bird-friendly shrub that, thanks to its attractiveness to numerous insects and thanks to its red berries, offers an excellent food base for up to 60 bird species.
4. Spindle Tree (Euonymus europaeus): This woody plant is very popular with birds because of its pink-orange fruits. Its dense thicket serves as a nesting site. You can find more information about the spindle tree - also known as the spindle tree - in our special article.
5. Common Juniper (Juniperus communis): This native shrub for birds provides food for 43 different species and attracts all kinds of insects with its flowers.
6. Buckthorn (Hippophaë rhamnoides): The berries of this bird-friendly shrub are often spurned, but its defensive thorns make it a good retreat.
7. Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna): The hawthorn is probably one of the most bird-friendly shrubs, as it provides food for 32 bird species and is very popular as a nesting site due to its protective thicket. In addition, its flowers attract numerous insects.
8. Wild roses (Rosa spec.): From winter to spring, wild roses with their rose hips provide a good supply of food for birds. But also their great flowers and thorns, which make the plants a perfect shelter, ensure that wild roses are among the bird and insect friendly shrubs.
9. Hazelnut (Corylus avellana): The nuts of the hazelnut are not only popular with us humans, but also with some bird species. In addition, the particularly early flowering shrub attracts numerous insects.
10. Honeysuckle (Lonicera xylosteum): You can make a hedge bird-friendly with the honeysuckle: its bright red berries are eaten with pleasure and its densely branched growth is ideal as a shelter for Birds.
11. Privet (Ligustrum vulgare): The privet is highly recommended as a hedge for birds: Its branched growth makes it an ideal breeding ground and its flowers and berries offer birds and insects plenty of food.
12. Blackberry (Rubus fruticosus): Because of its intricate growth and small sizethorns, the blackberry is a particularly bird-friendly shrub. In addition, it is particularly insect-friendly and, with its berries, a good source of food for birds.
13. Alder buckthorn (Rhamnus frangula): The native alder buckthorn is an important fodder plant for both insects and birds with its wide range of flowers and berries.
14. Raspberry (Rubus idaeus): Not only people like the raspberry: The bird- and insect-friendly shrub attracts beneficial insects with its flowers and provides food for birds with its berries. In addition, the thorny growth of the raspberry offers an ideal shelter.
15. Holly (Ilex): With its serrated leaves and striking red fruits, the holly is not only a particularly beautiful decoration, but also a great shelter and source of food for birds.
16. Buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica): While the berries of the buckthorn are poisonous to humans, they are readily consumed by many bird species. At the same time, the plants are good sources of food for caterpillars, bees and bumblebees and, as hedges, offer a good retreat for birds thanks to their dense growth.
17. Yew (Taxus baccata): Hardly any other conifer is as versatile as the yew - whether as a hedge, as a free-growing tree or as a topiary, the plant always cuts a fine figure . The bright red berries of the yew not only provide decorative accents in autumn, but are also gratefully accepted by birds. The bird-friendly hedge serves as food for more than 25 native bird species. It is also often used as a nesting place and retreat.
18. Hornbeam (Carpinus betulus): Decorative, robust and extremely easy on pruning - no wonder that the hornbeam is so popular in German gardens. Birds also love the plant, which can easily be raised as a hedge or as a free-growing tree. They use the nutlets of the evergreen, bird-friendly hedge as food, but the hornbeam is also a popular nesting place.
19. Dogwood (Cornus sanguinea): With its lush flowering, the dogwood is not only very popular with humans, but also attracts numerous insects. Birds also appreciate the shrub because of its berries and its dense growth as a nesting and nourishing tree.
20. Viburnum viburnum (Viburnum opulus): For the humanThe berries of the snowball are not suitable for consumption, but birds like them all the more. The hedge is not only bird-friendly, but also attracts numerous insects with its blooms.
These shrubs are not suitable for birds
Not all plants are suitable as bird-friendly hedges and shrubs - exotic species in particular are often unsuitable, since many insects do not fly to them and they do not serve as food sources for birds. Unfriendly shrubs for birds include the following plants:
1. Chinese juniper (Juniperus chinensis): Unlike its native relative, the common juniper, this shrub provides food for only one species of bird, making it extremely unsuitable.
2. Scarlet thorn (Crataegus pedicellata): Despite its close relationship to hawthorn, the fruits of the scarlet thorn are only eaten by two species of birds, which is why it is better to use its native counterpart.
3. Cultivated roses (Rosa): Due to their opulent flowers, cultivated roses are not only uninteresting for insects - since most varieties are sterile, they do not form rose hips, which the birds use as food .
4. Cherry laurel (Prunus laurocerasus): One of the best-known hedge plants is probably the cherry laurel. However, it is extremely unsuitable for birds: It offers neither food nor particularly good protection.
5. Tree of Life (Thuja): The tree of life is also known as a hedge plant. However, since it has neither thorns nor fruit for birds, it is not considered a bird-friendly hedge.
Would you like to further support the birds in your garden? You can find out how to do this in our article "Bird-Friendly Garden".