Category: Birds

Birds / Evergreen Shrubs / Flowering Shrubs / Garden Design / Garden Maintenance / Permaculture / Poisonous Plants / Tales from the Help Desk / Wildlife Gardening

 by Patsy McGrady

Tales from the Help Desk, Poisonous Red Berries

Q. I have heard that Nandina is poisonous to birds. My community has planted many Nandina plants. Should we remove these plants to protect birds?  A. It is true that Nandina (Nandina domestica) berries contain cyanide and are, therefore, highly toxic to birds and other animals. However, the only well documented case of birds dying from ingesting Nandina berries occurred in April 2009 when dozens of Cedar Waxwings were found dead in Thomas County, Georgia. The University of Georgia, College...

Birds / Tales from the Help Desk

 by Patsy McGrady

Tales from the Help Desk, Strange Markings

Q. What are the strange marks on my holly tree?  A. Those strange, rectangular shaped bare spots in the bark were made by sapsuckers, a type of woodpecker. While these birds eat insects, fruits, and nuts, they also enjoy tree sap. Here in eastern North America, the most common and destructive of these birds is the American yellow-bellied sapsucker, Sphyrapicus varius. These are migratory birds that feed in Virginia when the sap begins to run in March, and then again...

Beneficial Insects / Birds / Carbon Garden / Garden Design / Gardening on the Wild Side: Working in Harmony with Nature / Ornamental Shrubs / Permaculture / Sustainable Gardening / Wildlife Gardening

 by Elizabeth McCoy

Building a ‘Carbon Garden’

  You may be ahead of me on this one, but the picture that came to mind when I first saw the term ‘Carbon Garden’ in the January 2021 issue of Horticulture Magazine wasn’t very pretty.   In practice, a carbon garden is not only beautiful, but this garden style proves easier to maintain than many others. A Quick Summary of the Science Like other elements, carbon is an atom that can manifest as a solid, in a liquid, or...

Beneficial Insects / Birds / Bulb Gardening / Container Gardens / Flowering Shrubs / Garden Design / Gardening on the Wild Side: Working in Harmony with Nature / Herbs / Native Plants / Ornamental Shrubs / Permaculture / Sustainable Gardening / Wildlife Gardening

 by Elizabeth McCoy

Winter Flowers for Pollinators

  Did you notice bees and other insects feeding later than usual last year?  And did you notice how many were out feeding on warm days last winter?  Our roller coaster weather affects insects, birds and other animals.  They may be out and about on warmish days in months when we don’t expect to see them.  And, of course they are hungry! Increased activity translates into an increased need for calories.  Providing winter forage for pollinators and birds presents gardeners...

Beneficial Insects / Birds / Carbon Garden / Deer / Ferns / Garden Design / Garden Maintenance / Gardening on the Wild Side: Working in Harmony with Nature / Larval Host Plants / Lepidoptera / Native Plants / Ornamental Shrubs / Perennial Care / Permaculture / Soil Conservation / Sustainable Gardening / Wildlife Gardening

 by Elizabeth McCoy

Working With Nature to Put the Garden to Bed

  “Leave it be.”  Words I heard with some frequency growing up…. This simple bit of advice may be just the wisdom we need whether baking, navigating relationships, or preparing the garden for winter.  “Leave it be” insists that we quiet our urge to interfere with natural processes.  It asks us to step back and observe; to allow for a solution to unfold on its own. Some gardeners feel compelled to tidy up the leaves and sticks as they fall,...

Birds / Carbon Garden / Container Gardens / Evergreen Perennials / Ferns / Garden Design / Garden Maintenance / Gardening on the Wild Side: Working in Harmony with Nature / Native Plants / Perennial Care / Permaculture / Propagation / Soil Conservation / Sustainable Gardening

 by Elizabeth McCoy

Unraveling the Mystery of Growing Ferns from Spores

Ferns have successfully propagated themselves in nature, with no human assistance, for millennia. So it shouldn’t be too complicated, right?

Animal repellant products / Beneficial Insects / Birds / Bulb Gardening / Container Gardens / Crafting With Plants / Edible Plants / Evergreen Perennials / Ferns / Flowering Shrubs / Fragrant Plants / Garden Design / Gardening on the Wild Side: Working in Harmony with Nature / Herbs / Lepidoptera / Native Plants / Ornamental Shrubs / Perennial Care / Sustainable Gardening / Wildlife Gardening

 by Elizabeth McCoy

Making Container Gardens for Wildlife

  An older woman made her way slowly through the aisles of the garden center’s outdoor display area, leaning heavily on a cane.  As I turned, hands loaded with small pots, she was behind me.  She smiled and asked whether I had seen any bee balm on the display of herbs I’d been scanning. We began to chat, and it turned out that she wanted to attract hummingbirds to the balcony of her apartment.  Someone had told her that hummingbirds...

Beneficial Insects / Birds / Edible Plants / Garden Design / Gardening on the Wild Side: Working in Harmony with Nature / Native Plants / Wildlife Gardening

 by Elizabeth McCoy

Bringing Birds to the Garden

  Do you feed the birds? Most of us gardeners do. Unless you are protecting a crop of blueberries or blackberries, you probably enjoy the energy and joy birds bring to the garden with their antics and songs. Birds also vacuum up thousands of flying, crawling, and burrowing insects. Even hummingbirds eat an enormous number of insects as they fly around from blossom to blossom seeking sweet nectar. Birds are an important part of a balanced garden community. We have...

Animal repellant products / Birds / Deer / Edible Plants / Gardening on the Wild Side: Working in Harmony with Nature / Herbs / Larval Host Plants / Lepidoptera / Native Plants / Permaculture / Wildlife Gardening

 by Elizabeth McCoy

Who Is Welcome to Dine?

A Black Swallowtail butterfly feeds on Verbena bonariensis . When planning your garden and buying plants, is your first consideration who, or what, might eat them? If you are planting fruit trees, tomato vines, or salad greens you’re likely planning to share the fruits of your labor and investment with family and friends. Some friends of mine garden in a community garden, where much of the produce raised is donated to our local FISH organization. But food crops aside, when...