Grow plants to attract birds to your Backyard Oasis

 

By adding certain plants, shrubs and bushes you will attract more birds to your backyard and garden areas.

Shrubs and trees will provide shelter for birds year round. They will also provide them a place to nest. You will notice that once you have establish safe places for birds to nest, they will generally return from year to year.

Creeping vines, such as Virginia Creeper, offer an excellent mating and nesting haven for many species of bird. I myself am not fond of Virginia creeper. It tends to be invasive and hard to remove, but the birds love it. Holly bushes, privet trees, and conifers are also favorites for birds.

Berry trees and bushes will attract birds in the wintertime when other food is scarce. And in our area the shoemac tree is a popular feeding retreat for a large variety of birds.

Butterfly bush, Snapdragon, black-eyed Susan, golden rod, evening primrose, marigold, larkspur, yarrow, herbs and thistle will also attract birds. 

If your garden is relatively open or you don’t have room to plant shrubs or trees, you may want to consider putting up nesting boxes. These boxes will give the birds protection from weather and animals.

And while the winter season is here, it’s the perfect time to plan a bird garden. A small garden with flowers that attract bird can easily be grown in a small area, containers, or on an unused hillside.

In your bird garden you may want to add bright colored flowers, which will attract hummingbirds. Hummingbirds are good for pollinating plants and they are non-stop fun to watch.

Plants that will attract humming birds include azaleas, honeysuckle, morning glory, lantana, red buckeye, acanthus, and butterfly bush.

You can also place Hummingbird feeders filled with sugar water around your yard.  Feeders usually have bright red flowers attached so that the hummingbirds can readily recognize them.

And last but not least, add a water feature to your backyard or garden. This will beautify and create a relaxing feel to your yard and give the birds a resource for drinking and bathing during drier months.

A small fountain or traditional birdbath will attract a wide variety of birds to your garden area. And if a fountain does not fit into your décor a dish of water on the ground will water the birds in dry weather.

Tip: You may want to float a leaf on the surface of a small container of water so it’s easy for birds to recognize. And empty it daily to avoid attracting mosquitoes.

With a little effort you will add birds to your backyard, which will add pleasure, color and insect control to your home and garden areas.

Potato Container Garden Tips

Potato container gardens are a good way to have some potatoes at home when you want them. It is also a great way to ensure that your potatoes are organically grown in the healthiest way for your family.

Since pesticides are common in potato farming it is not uncommon at all to get potatoes from the store that have been treated with chemicals to protect them from disease or various bugs. So by growing your own at home you can avoid the potential problems that you usually find when eating potatoes.

One nice thing to know is that growing potatoes in a container is that it often yields more potatoes than when grown outside of the container.

So how do you grow potatoes in containers?

One common way to grow potatoes in a container is to plant several plants in a barrel that has been cut in half from top to bottom. The two halves can be laid on their sides and holes are then punched in the bottom for drainage. Then you fill the barrel halves with soil to grow in. Potatoes typically need a more acidic soil.


If you are new to potato growing, it is a great idea to talk to others who are growing potatoes in your area and try to get a sense of when the best times are to plant and what types of containers others are using. Just remember that gardening of any type is one of those things where many different methods will work just fine. So pick ones that sound like they will work and try them out.

Remember when you talk to people in your area that gardeners tend to all know the very best way to do something. Yet they each have a different way to do it. So take all the advice you can get and then use the best tips for you. Do not worry about the differing opinions or you will never get started.

Enjoy your potatoes!

Related Post: Planting Tomatoes Upside Down

Planting Tomatoes Upside Down

Upside down container tomatoes hanging in wood fence

There are lots of ways to grow tomatoes upside down in containers. One of the most common is to use a bucket with a hole in the bottom of the bucket. You need soil in bags. Mix the soil up as directed on the bag and have it on the side ready to go.

Then you cut a hole in the bottom of the bucket about two and half inches in diameter. The size of the hole can be adjusted depending on the size of the plants. Take your tomato plant and very carefully so as not to injure the poor little plant slide it through the hole in the inside of the bucket with the top down.

Take your time and feed all the little plant arms through the hole as carefully as possible and when you are done it should be resting on the bottom with the whole plant sticking out to the outside of the bucket. This works best with a very young plant of course.

Read Also: Potato Container Garden Tips

If the seedling is, slipping out of the hole at first then just cut a hole in some coffee filters and stick the plant through the coffee filters to give something that helps hold the plant in place as it rests in the hole of the bucket.

Then you want to fill the bucket about half full with the soil. This is easier if you have someone to hold the bucket for you since you cannot set it down without crushing the tomato plant. Once you have the soil in place then you need to find a place to hang the bucket.

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The bucket is upright and the plant is sticking out of the bottom of it. So the handle will be perfectly balanced to just allow you to hang the bucket on a hook or something that you would usually use for hanging planters.

Typically green buckets are used since the color seems to look best with the plant coming out of it. But if you want you can paint the bucket or even put designs on it to make it look less “buckety”.

Water your plants at the top of the bucket. There you have it. It is that simple to have a tomato plant growing upside down. Enjoy those tomatoes.

Container Vegetable Gardening Tips

Container vegetable gardening is a great way to get healthy organic vegetables whenever you want them. It takes a bit of work but you do not have to start a huge project you can find out what is in season for you to grow right now and get a couple of containers going and then you will be hooked.

Start by asking your friends if they have container gardens. Most of us do have a friend or two that are growing something in a container. Often it will be tomatoes. Ask them how they do it and what they use for the container to pick up some useful tips. It is important to know what you can grow at what times of the year.

You need an area that gets sun. You need water and a way to manage the water that is going into those containers. You will also need soil to plant in. Just digging up some dirt from your yard somewhere will rarely do the trick. If you want soil that can sustain healthy and delicious vegetables then you need to either purchase premade soil or take a little time getting the soil ready to go.

Now just as you need sun you may also need to shield your plants from too much sun depending on the area that you live in. It can be really important to have a way to block them from sun that is quick and easy so that they do not get too much and damage the plants or the growing vegetables.

If you get all of these things right, you will be rewarded with an experience that is really hard to beat. You cannot underestimate the joy of going out and picking the vegetables that you have grown for your family and eating fresh delicious vegetables. It simply is one of the pure and basic joys of life. With a bit of rewarding effort you will be on your way to experiencing one of life’s great pleasures.

Once you start container vegetable gardening, you won’t want to stop.

Indoor Vegetable Gardening How to Tips

Indoor vegetable gardening is a great way to have fresh vegetables when you do not have any ground to grow them in. You can enjoy vegetables that are super healthy and in many cases far better than the vegetables that are grown commercially. Commercially grown vegetables can sometimes not have the nutrients and quality that you can get by growing your own.

Here are some basic things to get you started. You can get more tips from your local gardening supply in your area as to what types of supplies to use for your garden.

1)      You will need soil. You purchase soil in bags and mix it according to the directions on the bag.

2)      Of course you will need containers to put the soil in and grow the vegetables. So you can get all kind of containers for this purpose a local nursery will have many different kinds of pots and you may want to choose them on visual appeal as well as how well they will fit the plants you want to grow. Make sure you have a couple of inches at the top of your containers for when you are watering them and the containers need drainage as well. Ask the people at the nursery to show you some good pots for the types of plants you want to grow. This is also a great place to get the plants you need of course.

Planting Tomatoes Upside Down

3)      Typically you need a bright sunny window to grow the plants in. South facing is usually best but use common sense too. What window provides the most sunlight throughout the day? Also remember to check the plants and make sure they are not getting too hot. Too much heat can damage them so if it is really hot at that window you may want to use the shade part of the day.

4)      Make sure you label the containers so you know what you have growing there.

5)      A plant stand is a great way to get lots of plants growing in one area.

These are just a few tips to get your going on your way. Enjoy those wonderful fresh veggies!