The BEST plant to grow for birds.

[Talon 1]

Well i have berberis and Pyracantha and cotoneaster dogwood all planted youngin my garden . Giant sunflowers etc etc.

Now then a Vote.

Which has to be the Best Plant to attract birds of all varieties?

Berberis?


P.S Only perennials please.

[birdman]

Got all of those except cotoneaster.

The berry bushes should be good... don't know much about the Dogwood though, other than it looks nice.

The Blackbirds LOVE our Pyrocanthus!

[CornishExile]

Cotoneaster must be a good bet for a garden all-rounder; good berries for those winter thrushes and Waxwings; and good dense cover for nesting birds in the summer. A little bit sterile for insects though, being to all intents and purposes a non-native.

My vote would go for crateagus (think I've got the Latin right... hawthorn, anyway!). It's got the berries for winter thrushes etc; attracts a good variety of breeding insects and so is a good larder for insectivorous birds; makes dense impenetrable cover, so is good for nesting birds. And as added bonuses for a garden plant it's tough as old boots, and has attractive flowers in the spring. A surefire winner!

ce

[Talon 1]

Got all of those except cotoneaster.

The berry bushes should be good... don't know much about the Dogwood though, other than it looks nice.

The Blackbirds LOVE our Pyrocanthus!


According to the RSPB Dogwood is a Favourite with the Robin! So i have planted some last may. Its gone Mad! Its trebled its size.

A fully grown Berberis i think is a winner.

I have...

Cotoneaster (2)
Pyracantha
Berberis (4)
Buddlea
Giant 12ft Russian Sunflowers.
Honeysuckle (2)
Foxglove (6)
Sorbus tree (1)
Ivy Ivy ivy.

Thats just a few.

[CornishExile]

According to the RSPB Dogwood is a Favourite with the Robin! So i have planted some last may. Its gone Mad! Its trebled its size.

.

Beware the mighty dogwood! If they like your garden, they'll take it over. A complete bugger to dig out when you find it's grown too big, they're very deep-rooted.

Slightly confused as to exactly what's so special about dogwoods for Robins?

ce

[Mary Evelyn]

We have Dogwood (red bark)and Robins but I have never noticed the Robins preference ?

[Talon 1]

On the RSPB site it says Dogwood is good for Robins?

Anyway.

Went out yesterday and bought a Red Current plant. Another Cotanaister and another berberis (purple this time)

My dad has a Massive Berberis and we watch the Blackbird jump up and take the berries its amusing to watch as the Mrs is better than he is at it so he chases her off only for her to return after 5 minutes and he has tried 3 times she jumpes up once and he chases her off again. This happened about 4 times....Very amusing.

[IanF]

Pyracantha is by far the most popular shrub in our garden for the birds - both for protection to dive into and as a food source for the insects and berries.

Second is Mahonia Charity which always has a bird in it - Blue Tits, Wren, Robin, Blackbirds and Blackcap in Winter.

Also popular -
Apples Trees
Cotoneaster
Laburnum
Mountain Ash

I think myself that Hawthorn is probably the best one to have, but as we only have a small garden I figured it would take up too much room. I still rue not having one though.

[trealawboy]

Having witnessed the Waxwing invasion last winter, I would say the yellow Sorbus 'Joseph Rock' would be high on a list of plants to acquire for birds.

[CornishExile]

On the RSPB site it says Dogwood is good for Robins?

Anyway.

.

Just cos the RSPB says something's so doesn't mean they're right! Do they say why it's good? Life's too short for me to be bothered to hawk through their site to find out if they do...

ce

[Talon 1]

Just cos the RSPB says something's so doesn't mean they're right! Do they say why it's good? Life's too short for me to be bothered to hawk through their site to find out if they do...

ce
What a completely unconstructive comment! My life is to short to have a reasonable conversation with you!

[Talon 1]

Here you are i just put in Dogwood into 'Springwatch and it came up with this , it took 10 seconds.

Robins and Dogwood.......................Now leave me alone.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/animals/features/177how.shtml

[beaker]

Native and Japanese Honeysuckle seem very popular in my garden.Good nesting sites,perfumed insect attracting flowers and berries in Autumn so loved by warblers.

Andy Firth

[CornishExile]

What a completely unconstructive comment! My life is to (sic)short to have a reasonable conversation with you!Excuse me? Where did that come from? You made an initial statement that the RSPB say dogwood was good for robins (post #4); I asked a polite question open to all as to why dogwood might be especially good for robins (post #5); your next posting (#7) changed the tone of things, simply reasserting your original statement in a way that was clearly exasperated with my unwillingness to accept your assertion at face value; and my last post (#10) was a gentle reminder that the RSPB have been known to get it wrong in the past - like all of us, they're human, and fallible - and once again, I wanted someone here on Birdforum (not necessarily you, given the unwillingness to clarify you'd already demonstrated in post #7) to let me know why dogwoods were said to be good for Robins. Why not look it up myself? This is a forum, where people ask questions and more often than not get helpful and illuminating answers. Personally that's why I come to Birdforum, rather than to make provocative and splenetic little outbursts like yours.

Incidentally, thank you for the Springwatch link - not particularly helpful in clarifying the subject, as the initial assertion was said to be from the RSPB, and so I was asking why the RSPB specifically thought dogwood particularly good - the Springwatch text merely mentions dogwood whilst expanding on why spindle berries are an important food source. This was the thrust behind my original question - was there something particularly helpful about dogwood? Looks like I'll need to do my own research after all.

And to think that my initial posting on this thread was meant to be helpful and in the spirit of the interesting topic you'd raised. Why did I bother?

ce

[CornishExile]

Okay, to clarify things for anyone who might be thinking of planting shrubs for birds in their gardens, and might have got the impression that dogwood is particularly favoured by Robins...

I can find no reference on the RSPB's site that this is the case. Dogwood is merely one of several native species that are good to have in a hedge or indeed in isolation as a berry-source for birds during the late autumn / winter.

Specifically,

http://www.rspb.org.uk/gardens/whatyoucando/Plantinggardens/shrubs.asp

where they merely state "Dogwood Cornus sanguinea* is a deciduous shrub whose berries are taken by a wide variety of birds."

This was what I originally thought, but was prepared to be proved wrong! So it seems dogwood is good, but no better for birds than a wide variety of other shrubs. Which brings us full circle to my orginal theory that hawthorn (acknowledged by the RSPB to be the backbone of a traditional hedge) is a better shrub, as in addition to being a berry source, it also supports a more diverse insect population; provides better nesting cover; has attractive blossom in the spring; being thorny provides a security aspect for the householder; is tough and tolerant of a wide variety of growing conditions; and to answer a concern expressed elsewhere in the thread, it takes readily to being pruned, so need not dominate or take over your garden.

For a credible endorsement apart from by unconstructive ol' me (!):

http://www.rspb.org/gardens/guide/atoz/h/hawthorn.asp

where it gets a glowing report.

Hope this clarifies things. As they say in The Garden and British Birds, this correspondence is now closed. ;)

ce

[Talon 1]

Yes case closed . I really can't be bothered to hawk this out .