Backyard small trees/plant suggestions to attract song birds?

[sams]

Iam planing to plant small trees (6-8' tall)along my border wooden
fence line to add color to the monotone and also to attract song
birds. It would be better if its evergreen conifer types or any winter
hardy tree/plant. Doesnt matter if it dont fruit, since the birds here
at my backyard, dont seems to be eating them. Also should be easy to
care.

TIA

Sam

Zone 6.
New Fairfield, CT.

[J Kolenovsky]

In my opinion, the wisest thing to do is to research the native trees
indigenous to your area and contact your native plant society for
additional information and resources on how to proceed. You will find
there are probably numeous uunderstory/fringe trees to selct from as
well as some shrub/tree combinations. There will be native selections
that will have the birds eating and habitating quite well as well as
related wildlife.

The one if found for CT is http://ct-botanical-society.org/.

Best regards,

J. Kolenovsky
http://www.celestialhabitats.com

sams wrote:
> =

> Iam planing to plant small trees (6-8' tall)along my border wooden
> fence line to add color to the monotone and also to attract song
> birds. It would be better if its evergreen conifer types or any winter
> hardy tree/plant. Doesnt matter if it dont fruit, since the birds here
> at my backyard, dont seems to be eating them. Also should be easy to
> care.
> =

> TIA
> =

> Sam
> =

> Zone 6.
> New Fairfield, CT.

-- =

Celestial Habitats by J. Kolenovsky
2003 Honorable Mention Award, Keep Houston Beautiful
=F4=BF=F4 - http://www.celestialhabitats.com - business
=F4=BF=F4 - http://www.hal-pc.org/~garden/personal.html - personal

[Pam - gardengal]

"sams" > wrote in message
om...
> Iam planing to plant small trees (6-8' tall)along my border wooden
> fence line to add color to the monotone and also to attract song
> birds. It would be better if its evergreen conifer types or any winter
> hardy tree/plant. Doesnt matter if it dont fruit, since the birds here
> at my backyard, dont seems to be eating them. Also should be easy to
> care.

6-8' is VERY small for a tree - even many dwarf forms typically get larger
than that over time. You may want to investigate shrubs instead - there are
many, many shrubs you can choose from - flowering, fruiting, evergreen or
deciduous.

The UConn plant data base is an excellent resource - it will provide you
with a large selection of shrubs hardy for your area and suitable to your
garden conditions.
http://www.hort.uconn.edu/plants/

Song birds need cover, a safe perch, water and a food source. The food
source doesn't necessarily have to be the shrubs (although many berrying
shrubs are beloved by songbirds), but they need to attract insects which the
birds feed on. Perennials and ornamental grasses which develop appealing
seedheads are a good choice as well. Native plants are often suitable, but
you don't have to restrict your choice to those. Select what is attractive
to you and what requires low maintenance. If you have enough biodiversity,
the birds will come.

pam - gardengal

[J Kolenovsky]

Sam, if I can get you to consider planting "some" natives along with
whatever else you like (hopefully "adapted" plants), that would be good
for your yard and surrounding environs.

J
http://www.celestialhabitats.com

Pam - gardengal wrote:
> =

> "sams" > wrote in message
> om...
> > Iam planing to plant small trees (6-8' tall)along my border wooden
> > fence line to add color to the monotone and also to attract song
> > birds. It would be better if its evergreen conifer types or any winte=
r
> > hardy tree/plant. Doesnt matter if it dont fruit, since the birds her=
e
> > at my backyard, dont seems to be eating them. Also should be easy to
> > care.
> =

> 6-8' is VERY small for a tree - even many dwarf forms typically get lar=
ger
> than that over time. You may want to investigate shrubs instead - there=
are
> many, many shrubs you can choose from - flowering, fruiting, evergreen =
or
> deciduous.
> =

> The UConn plant data base is an excellent resource - it will provide yo=
u
> with a large selection of shrubs hardy for your area and suitable to yo=
ur
> garden conditions.
> http://www.hort.uconn.edu/plants/
> =

> Song birds need cover, a safe perch, water and a food source. The food
> source doesn't necessarily have to be the shrubs (although many berryin=
g
> shrubs are beloved by songbirds), but they need to attract insects whic=
h the
> birds feed on. Perennials and ornamental grasses which develop appealin=
g
> seedheads are a good choice as well. Native plants are often suitable, =
but
> you don't have to restrict your choice to those. Select what is attract=
ive
> to you and what requires low maintenance. If you have enough biodiversi=
ty,
> the birds will come.
> =

> pam - gardengal



sams wrote:
> =

> Iam planing to plant small trees (6-8' tall)along my border wooden
> fence line to add color to the monotone and also to attract song
> birds. It would be better if its evergreen conifer types or any winter
> hardy tree/plant. Doesnt matter if it dont fruit, since the birds here
> at my backyard, dont seems to be eating them. Also should be easy to
> care.
> =

> TIA
> =

> Sam
> =

> Zone 6.
> New Fairfield, CT.

-- =

Celestial Habitats by J. Kolenovsky
2003 Honorable Mention Award, Keep Houston Beautiful
=F4=BF=F4 - http://www.celestialhabitats.com - business
=F4=BF=F4 - http://www.hal-pc.org/~garden/personal.html - personal