The Bird Garden
A while ago I suggested we create a bird garden in our backyard. We have always had bird feeders and we love to see the birds in the yard. The sound of birds singing in the morning has always been one of my favorite sounds. At our old house we used to have what we happily referred to as, ” the bird sanctuary.” We had so many big beautiful trees, plenty of bird feeders , a bird bath and a lot of different species of birds came to visit. It was great! But here we have no trees. So an area where we could watch the birds, feed them ,and let them hang out and maybe take a little bath. Sounded perfect. Today’s blog is all about creating our bird garden.
It all started with a wish and this little sketch.
We chose the far corner of the yard so we could see the bird garden from the dining room, living room and french doors.We measured out the area and removed all of the sod. Hard work folks!
Choosing the tree was more challenging than expected. But we finally decided on an ornamental pear tree. It provides beautiful white blossoms in the spring. But is not fruit bearing. To properly plant a tree -dig the hole by looking for the root that is attached highest on the tree ( the root flare) and measure just below that point to the bottom of the root ball and three times the diameter of the root ball. Loosen the root ball well ,freeing the large roots. Add root stabilizer to the hole before you place the tree. Mound with dirt like a well aroun the tree and soak well with water. We added supports too. Then we placed the redwood ( treated timbers ),staked and screwed them into place and dug a hole for the bird feeder post and filled it with concrete. 
Then we added the bird bath. Its lined with mosaic tile and the perfect size for birds to bath in and drink from. It is secured with 18 inch long iron stakes ( we get very strong winds here).
Then it was time for the dirt…
Ah yes ,the dirt. I hate that we have to buy dirt! Dirt is so expensive, it’s crazy. We filled the back of the “ole Grandpa truck and then we shoveled that heavy stuff into the garden. More hard work………… Sparky’s truck has seen us through a lot. We recently removed the shell ( it had been on the truck since 1997, and we donated it. Removing it was a a challenge. But it’s so nice to have the open bed available for things like hauling dirt. Maybe a little yard sale-ing, Shh…. don’t tell Sparky.
Once the garden was filled with dirt It was time to add some flowers. I selected a nice day lily for the center. It’ll fill out over time and has lovely white flowers in the spring. I added a few annuals too ( so it doesn’t look to bare.) Petunias and marigolds, both inexpensive and easy to grow. I Put in some chrysanthemums and purple phlox too. In the back are bulbs ( so it looks a bit empty) we should see some flowers next year and on both sides are rhododendrons . You can almost see one of the little stumps in the first photo.
So with some time and patience it will soon fill in beautifully and provide a great party spot for the birds. We’ve already seen a few visitors hanging out on the bird feeder. This morning I saw a red robin taking a bath. I’m really happy with the result. I’ll post again when the plants start to fill in.
Do you do anything to attract birds to your yard?
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This came out great! Wish we could do something similar here but all of my attempts at feeding birds end up feeding chipmunks and squirrels instead 🙁
LOVE your bird garden!! It looks so inviting!!
We have a bird feeder, suet, and a thistle feeder. We also have 2 birdbaths, a tree, some icky bushes on the neighbor’s side of the fence to provide shelter, and the pond for fresh water. Yeah, I guess you can say that we sort of cater to the bird population here. 🙂
Hi Katherine,
I love your pretty garden and isn’t it great to watch the birds.
Since we no longer have cats, we seem to have lots of beautiful birds, I love them.
They are so quiet and one actually came right near me when I was gardening the other day.
Hope that you are enjoying the weekend
Hugs
Carolyn
It’s lovely! I hope you have lots of visitors in your new bird sanctuary!
I love it! I love to listen to and watch birds (and so does my cat). We don’t have trees and I don’t like them close to the house due to allergies but your idea in a far corner is perfect. Beautiful!
hi Katherine, your bird garden is beautiful. i love waking up in the morning to the birds chirping. We have a hummingbird feeder and a bird feeder that the squirrels have taken over. i hope your garden grows beautifully. Have a wonderful weekend my friend.
This is really a beautiful space, Katherine. How kind of you and your to create a haven for the sweet birds.
How beautiful! It will be really pretty once the tree grows =) I also love in the morning when you can sit and enjoy listening to the birds sing. We also moved in the last year or so and seem to have or hear less birds here than at the old house. But like you mentioned we had bigger trees at the other house =)
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Very cool. What an awesome addition to the yard. Now I’m inspired to do something like that with the kids! Have a great weekend.
the crysenthemum bloom so beautifully. I bet soon plenty of birds will be coming
Kathy
http://www.smallkucing.com
Just beautiful! I want to do something like this…we just moved into a new house and there is ZERO landscaping. Project time!
What a LOVELY little retreat you have made for the birds to come and visit…Our daughter’s LOVE to build places for our birds to come…And we have A LOT of birds… We live on property that is surrounded by more property so there is plenty of wild life..Our girls enjoy changing out the birdbath water and putting the seed out…We also have a window feeder where it attaches to the outside of the window and you can see them coming to feed..The children LOVE it….and my husband and I as well…
What a lovely sanctuary for birds! I especially like the mosaic bird bath! You have done an excellent job! Hope you’ll post pictures next year so we can see the growth!
Visiting from vB
Thanks, Becky Jane
http://riseaboveyourlimits.blogspot.com/
That’s quite a project you undertook, and it looks beautiful! I’m sure the birds enjoy visiting you!
What a wonderful thing to do, i love love love the bird bath, it is going to look wonderful, lucky birds.
I adore my garden birds, we are lucky and get lots. My daughter and i name them.. we have percy pecker the robin, bertie blue the bluetit and belle bullfinch to name but a few (yes i know i’m wierd!)
j x
I think you did an awesome job. You should have lots of birds visiting that beautiful area.
Sooo cute…..and creative! We love birds, too. We keep an Alabama Bird Guide on our kitchen table. We have a feeder and bath in our backyard. It has been interesting to see the seed mixes the birds love and don’t like so much…Our birds are spoiled!
Very nicely done! It’s going to be so colorful when everything is in full bloom. I love the mosaic bowl on your bird bath! Great idea sketching it all out first like that. We have a few new things we want to do and should do that too.
We live within the city limits, but we have a fairly good sized back yard compared to most of our neighbors. We have a bird bath and a couple of feeders. The squirrels are little scavengers so we have to keep stuff away from hanging limbs, fences, etc. or the birds don’t get anything! Mostly wrens, chickadees and then the big guys like blue jays and cardinals. Love the cards, but the jays are mean and will chase away a lot of the other birds.
Wow! That is such a cute spot in your yard for the birds to hang out in! I loved reading about your process of building it – from the sketch, to getting the dirt, to the finished product!
We don’t do anything, yet, but I have certainly been contemplating it.
The hard work you put into this has paid off. You have everything you need for the birds.
As time goes by, it will turn magnificent and you will be rewarded with lots of songs from birds.
I LOVE this post! I’ve sent the link to the Ruby community and I would also like to feature this post on my personal blog, if that’s OK with you ;o) I have missed being here, in touch with you, chatting away about the important things in life! Teaching is fun (doesn’t pay much, though!) but THIS is what I truly LOVE to do. So glad to be back to work and back in touch with YOU, my dear friend. Love you, N
If my wife sees this, she’ll want one!
We have a lot of birds to our feeders…. We have a mix of seed & dried fruits in the feeders & we keep suet year round. We also have hummingbird feeders & feed them along with the downey woodpeckers at the hummingbird feeders. We have 2 garden ponds & 2 birdbaths…. So between all the food, water & trees we have a bird santuary!! Love them all…..
Have a Great Day!!
Marilyn
We don’t do anything special to attract birds into our yard. We do however have plenty of squirrels running around. I love the project you took on and how well it turned out. It will be even nicer once it begins to fill in. You’ll have to be sure to update the photo later on!
Just beautiful!…We have a hummingbird feeder. The hummingbirds are just now starting to come regularly. 🙂
I love this…I created such a place in our backyard…but the cat has driven them all away…I hated seeing the cat attack the birds so I stopped filling the feeders. I just do the hummingbird feeder now…. So sad!
Your project involved lots of hard work but the rewards will be many, Katie. I love birds and squirrels and have a multitude of them in my side yard. I live on a heavily wooded lot so my challenge was the opposite of yours. I actually had to clear an area for my feeding station and birdbaths. I love to watch birds drink and bathe. We have several families of bright red cardinals as well as blue jays, woodpeckers and many other species. Good luck with your bird garden. It looks beautiful!
I would love to create a bird garden but our neighbourhood is full of birdloving cats. I
Thanks for the inspiration 🙂