02-05-2003, 04:44 PM
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Q - Beneficial bird shrubs
In article , wrote:
Hello,
I have a 60 ft x 10 ft full-sun spot which has been used for garden
crops. Over the past 2 years its been mulched and is loam down to
12-18 inches. However, it's next to the neighbors' house and during
the winter it's pretty barren. Fences are prohibited by the township
so I figured this would be a nice spot for some bushes or shrubs. I
also have a separate but well-established forsythia section which
provides cover for birds, but very little in the way of food for them.
It's currently running rampant, and I was considering removing a few
of them in favor of a new, more benficial bush.
I've been searching for shrubs that would be beneficial for
established (or attract new) wildlife to the area, particularly birds.
This area is zone 5, nw NJ, mountainous, very acidic and heavy clay
soil. The immediate area they would be planted receives about 6-8 hrs
of sun per day in summer, but was also considering beneficial shrubs
for partial-sun areas.
I've been looking into both american cranberry bushes (viburnum
trilobum), as well as northern bayberry (myrica pensylvanica). I
read both these shrubs could be used as both fruit and cover for local
native wildlife. I was wondering if anyone had any other
recommendations for shrubs in this area, or advice on what challenges
the above two would have growing in this area. I keep reading that
bayberry is a coastal plant, and was wondering if it would fare well
in the mountains.
As a notice, this msg is cross-posted to both rec.birds and
rec.gardens. Thanks very much for any advice,
Dan
I'm a great fan of Viburnum trilobum, it just strikes me as having every
conceivable positive trait: Gorgeous leaves, gorgeous buds & lacecap
flowers, bright berries that last into winter, & trainable (I'm
espaliering a "Wentworth" V. trilobum to become a "wall" of the back
porch, & it's so obedient to shaping). Birds usually won't eat the berries
early in their season, but after the fruits have been frozen a couple
times, & other berries have vanished from the landscape, birds then get
the viburnum cranberries. A very similar shrub is Viburnum sargentiana;
we have the cultivar "Onondaga." It's buds are pink rather than greenish
white as on trilobum, though they lose their pink when opening & are the
same white lacecaps, but for a while during the flower's development there
are white flower petals surrounding interior pink buds. Then of course the
same maple-like leaves of great beauty, but adding a bright flush of
marroon when first emerging & a faint maroon blush when the leaves are
mature.
In the understory amidst larger shrubs you could plant little
part-shade-liking evergreen lingonberry bushes & wintergreen shrublets
which flower twice a year & produce lots of tasty berries.
I'm curioius about the ban on fences. So you can't legally have an
arbor-entried enclosed garden? Local government intrusions into very basic
property rights is such a ****er. Maybe you could legally put up a
free-standing trellis for a climbing vine.
-paghat the ratgirl
--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/
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