Help with a Texas bird Garden (1 Viewer)

[Chickadee6]

I have a mostly clay backyard with full sun and no trees, I wanted to know what plants should I use? I mainly would want to put shrubs/small trees and annual and perennial flowers and vines.😀

 

[Lisa W]

I’m not great with gardening, but as Texas is so big (not being sarcastic, I was born and raised there) part of it will depend on the “zone” you are as to which plants will thrive and which won’t. Plants that would thrive up near Amarillo would probably not do as well as those in Corpus Christi.

 

[dwminnich]

You will do both yourself and the birds a favor if you plant things that are native to your area. One great resource in the U.S. is on the Audubon society webpage. If you google “Audubon society native plants“ you should find a link on their page that allows you to input your ZIP Code and get a list of plants tailored for your specific area. Natives will have the advantage of being acclimated to your climate, and will provide the sorts of resources that the birds in your area will need. (Native support the local insects that many birds feed on, in addition to providing direct food, shelter, etc. for the birds.) They frequently also require less water and maintenance. You might want to check out some of the books by Doug Tallamy; he’s a big proponent of creating native landscapes and of the benefits they have for birds and wildlife.

As important, or more important, than the plants will be getting a source of water for the birds. This could be as simple as a birdbath or something more complex like a recirculating pond. If you search around there are easy DIY plans for bubblers that will create moving water (here’s an example: https://www.trianglegardener.com/how-to-build-a-bird-bubbler/). The sound of moving water will draw as many or more birds as your plants will. I don’t know whether you also plan to put feeders up, but I see a wider variety of birds at the water than I do at the feeders.

 

[Chickadee6]

Sorry for answering so late! Thanks for the advice, I used the Audubon native plant tool and I got a lot of results, and I ordered from a native plant nursery. I have to wait till march for it to ship, but I will post pictures of them when there here!