suggestions on my backyard?

[ldsmith]

I live in Southern Arizona at about 3000 feet elevation. Here are a few pictures of my backyard. I have 4 Hummer feeders, 2 setup so Orioles and woodpeckers can feed from them while the bees cannot. There are 2 seed feeders for the Sparrows and Finches. My water feature has a waterfall on the right side and a small stream and pool on the left side. The birds love it all.

Any suggestions to enhance my backyard would be appreciated. Low cost and easy maintainence are a must.

The pictures of the backyard are at the bottom of my web page.

http://www.timeyourfunds.com/birding

Thanks

Larry

[ardnasx1]

Hi Larry

I'm no expert whatsoever and your garden looks great. One thing that jumped out at me was that those walls in your garden would be really suitable for some creepers. Being from the other side of the water I don't know what your local plants would be, but the small birds love creepers. If I think of anything else I'll get back to you!

Sandra

[ldsmith]

Sandra,

Thanks for the idea, I'll look into something to creep on the walls. It will have to stand complete shade though as most of the fence doesn't get any direct sun.

Larry

[youngbirder92]

Hi Larry your backyard looks good. I agree with Sandra that some sort of vine or creeper up your wall would be beneficial. I would suggest putting at least a few taller shrubs in your garden, preferably with berries although I don't know what specific species may thrive at your location. Plant them especially along the border of your property like along the walls. The shrubs should attract a great variety of birds to your yard that may not visit otherwise. The plants I saw in your photos were mostly low-growing shrubs and evergreen trees which both can be very beneficial to birds, especially in the wintertime. Your water feature is a DEFINITE plus so do all you can to maintain it properly whic you probably are doing now. For your feeders I would suggest putting out a platform feeder low to the ground and fill it with either white millet or black oil. That would attract lots of ground-feeding birds. Doves especially love white millet. Don't put out the commercial seed mix though as this contains red millet, milo, rape, etc. and an extraordinary amount is wasted. You can make a crude platform feeder yourself for almost no cost whatsoever. If it doesn't get too hot there in the wintertime maybe also put out suet as this attracts great numbers of birds. It may melt if you put it out in summer though. Try out this book as this has good information for attracting birds to your garden throughout the United States-The Audubon Backyard Birdwatcher : Birdfeeders and Bird Gardens. Robert Burton c 1999. I am currently experimenting with my own backyard bird garden and I found that the suggestions I made for you work very well in North Carolina and should also in AZ. Hope this helps!!