Shrub Recommendation - Please !
 

Hi,

Has anybody a shrub recommendation to fit these specs -


Has berries for bird-life winter feed.

Looks good.

Reasonably fast growing.

Self-fertile (will plant both sexes if need be).

Mature height under 1.5 metres.

Partial shade (gets the westering sun).

Easy to find (on the net?).

Price not important (within reason!).


I've looked at Holly but haven't found one that quite
suits although I may have been looking in the wrong place.
The soil is well drained and of almost neutral pH.


Thanks - Joe

Shrub Recommendation - Please !
 

Subject: Shrub Recommendation - Please !
From: Joe McElvenney
Date: 05/05/2004 11:36 GMT Daylight Time
Message-id:

Hi,

Has anybody a shrub recommendation to fit these specs -


Has berries for bird-life winter feed.

Looks good.

Reasonably fast growing.

Self-fertile (will plant both sexes if need be).

Mature height under 1.5 metres.

Partial shade (gets the westering sun).

Easy to find (on the net?).

Price not important (within reason!).

Some form of Berberis perhaps?
--
Rhiannon
http://www.livejournal.com/users/rhiannon_s/
"The trick is to commit crimes so confusing that police feel too stupid to even
write a crime report about them."
Aubrey on remaining at liberty
www.somethingpositive.net

Shrub Recommendation - Please !
 

"Joe McElvenney" wrote in message
...
Hi,

Has anybody a shrub recommendation to fit these specs -


[snip]



The RHS have recently added a new feature to their website where you put
all the details in and it selects appropriate plants. I tried it with
your details and it suggested Mahonia japonica and Viburnum davidii.

I then tried it with autumn berries instead of winter, and it came back
with 3 pages of suggestions including Aucuba japonica, Berberis
thunbergii, various Chaenomeles, Daphne, Hypericum, Skimmia, etc. etc.

Obviously some of these will be better for birds than others, but if you
try it for yourself it should give you enough ideas.

Hope this helps

Neil

Shrub Recommendation - Please !
 

Joe McElvenney5/5/04 11:36

Hi,

Has anybody a shrub recommendation to fit these specs -


Has berries for bird-life winter feed.

Looks good.

Reasonably fast growing.

Self-fertile (will plant both sexes if need be).

Mature height under 1.5 metres.

Partial shade (gets the westering sun).

Easy to find (on the net?).

Price not important (within reason!).


I've looked at Holly but haven't found one that quite
suits although I may have been looking in the wrong place.
The soil is well drained and of almost neutral pH.

Have a look at the RSPB site:
http://www.rspb.org.uk/gardens/guide/plants/index.asp

--

Sacha
(remove the weeds to email me)

Shrub Recommendation - Please !
 

"Joe McElvenney" wrote in message
...
Hi,

Has anybody a shrub recommendation...

Cotoneaster?
--
Nick Wagg

Shrub Recommendation - Please !
 

In article , Joe McElvenney
writes
Hi,

Has anybody a shrub recommendation to fit these specs -


Has berries for bird-life winter feed.

Looks good.

Reasonably fast growing.

Self-fertile (will plant both sexes if need be).

Mature height under 1.5 metres.

Partial shade (gets the westering sun).

Easy to find (on the net?).

Price not important (within reason!).


I've looked at Holly but haven't found one that quite
suits although I may have been looking in the wrong place.
The soil is well drained and of almost neutral pH.

I did think of red currant till I realised all the berries get eaten in
midsummer rather than winter!

Your preference would be a british native - if you can find a holly that
suits, they are good particularly for mistle thrushes. I don't know
whether it would be possible to keep a hawthorn within bounds and still
get berries? Rowan are popular but grow too tall. Elderberries get eaten
as soon as they are ripe.

Pyracantha are taken by birds but not as first preference, viburnum seem
to be lower down the pecking order and cotoneaster lower still. What
about a dwarf apple tree? - blackbirds in particular like apples.


--
Kay Easton

Edward's earthworm page:
http://www.scarboro.demon.co.uk/edward/index.htm

Shrub Recommendation - Please !
 

In article , Neil Jones
writes

The RHS have recently added a new feature to their website where you put
all the details in and it selects appropriate plants. I tried it with
your details and it suggested Mahonia japonica and Viburnum davidii.

I then tried it with autumn berries instead of winter, and it came back
with 3 pages of suggestions including Aucuba japonica, Berberis
thunbergii, various Chaenomeles, Daphne, Hypericum, Skimmia, etc. etc.


Obviously some of these will be better for birds than others, but if you
try it for yourself it should give you enough ideas.

Out of that lot, I still have skimmia berries from last season, so their
clearly not a bird preference, and I've never seen birds on chaenomeles
either.
--
Kay Easton

Edward's earthworm page:
http://www.scarboro.demon.co.uk/edward/index.htm

Shrub Recommendation - Please !
 

I would have thought that Cotoneaster, as suggested, would be ideal.
Pyracantha would be just as suitable. Avoid unusual fruit colours as these
tend to be avoided by birds. Probably not included in their inherited memory
bank.
Best Wishes.
"Nick Wagg" wrote in message
...

"Joe McElvenney" wrote in message
...
Hi,

Has anybody a shrub recommendation...

Cotoneaster?
--
Nick Wagg

Shrub Recommendation - Please !
 

Hi,

Thank you to everybody for all the suggestions. I have
made a list of them which should help me make a suitable
choice.

Thanks once again - Joe