How to make your winter garden a bird refuge

I just cleaned out and filled a couple of birdfeeders to help my migrating backyard buddies fuel up for their long journeys south. And I’ll keep it well-stocked with high-energy seed mix throughout winter to feed the non-migratory birds that tough it out until spring in my suburban New York garden.

After all, it’s now, when the garden is slowing down, that birds need us the most. Providing sustenance is one of several ways that we can support them.

When selecting road food (sky food?) for birds, I always seek out options that provide high-quality sources of fat and protein, like unsalted peanuts, black-oil sunflower seeds and suet, which are cakes made from animal fat, seeds, grains and mealworms.

I’ll also whip up a batch of sugar-water “nectar” for migrating hummingbirds by dissolving 1 cup of white sugar in 4 cups of boiling water, then allowing it to cool.

All this is to supplement the buffet of seeds and berries that my perennials, shrubs and trees will naturally provide.

Let some perennials remain as food, habitat, visual interest

I’ve long ago abandoned the idea of a tidy winter garden, instead leaving most of my perennials, many of them natives, standing until spring. The plump seeds hidden in their faded flower heads will also feed the non-migratory birds that rough it out here in New York over winter, when other food sources are scarce.

The asters, coneflowers, black-eyed Susans, goldenrods and ornamental grasses will soon be dry and crispy, but they will continue to serve the garden and its inhabitants for months.

So will the berries nestled between the spiky leaves of my American holly bush, and those clinging to soon-to-be bare viburnum and dogwood branches. With any luck, nuts will fall to the ground encased in their “pinecone” packages, although I suspect this may be an off year for my Norway spruce.

If you aren’t already in the habit, consider leaving your spent perennials standing over winter. Not only will they serve essential wildlife, but they’ll serve you, too.

Birdsong in winter is a treat in my suburban New York garden, and the view of snow-covered seedheads from my window is certainly prettier than what my neighbor sees when gazing at her barren wasteland of a flattened, cleared-out garden.

Add trees and other plants

If you don’t have seed- or berry-producing plants in your landscape, you’re in luck. Not only is early fall a great time to plant shrubs and perennials, but the plants are likely to be steeply discounted at the garden center.

Consider adding trees, too. Oaks, firs, hickories and evergreens are among those that provide quality food, shelter and nesting sites for feathered friends. And that friendship will never be more apparent than in spring, when they’ll repay you with free pest-control services, feeding their baby hatchlings with thousands of insects that would otherwise go on to ravage your plants.

Leave some leaves and cut some lights

Pushing fallen leaves into garden beds to insulate plants and nourish the soil will also shelter hibernating insects that, in turn, will sustain ground-feeding birds. It’s much better for the ecosystem — and easier for the gardener — than bagging them up and sending them to a landfill.

I’ll also disconnect my solar-powered landscape lighting and keep the porch light turned off for the next couple of months to avoid disorienting migratory birds, which rely on the moon and stars as celestial navigation cues to find their way south. It’s the closest they have to GPS, and I, for one, don’t want to be responsible for interfering with their signal.

In the end, caring for birds during the leanest moths is a gift that will fly right back at you.

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Jessica Damiano writes weekly gardening columns for the AP and publishes the award-winning Weekly Dirt Newsletter. You can sign up here for weekly gardening tips and advice.

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