Providing winter shelter

6 years ago

I'm in Ontario, in a small city. I've always had an abundance of birds in the garden, even though I feed only flax seed (thank you, tree rats, cats and grackles for ruining it for everyone). In the winter I get mainly chickadees, which I love. This week I got a swam of goldfinches, a rare sight in February north of Lake Ontario

After taking down a massive cedar hedge, the immediate neighborhood features only deciduous trees, none of them suited for tiny nests.

So, here's my question. Although my garden is small, I have room for a few small evergreens or something to give birds a place to hide between trips to the feeder. Can someone recommend a plant that doesn't get too massive? I have planted a couple of Burning Bushes, but they need to be kept in check for size and are, of course, also deciduous.

Featured Answer

popmama (Colorado, USDA z5)

6 years ago

The birds in my yard love the tangled web of clematis vines and leaves that seem to stay on it in the winter. It's very dense in there. When I go near it, tons of little birdies all fly out. It's right next to a feeder.

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Comments (6)

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Any kind of evergreens, broadleaved or coniferous, will work. Since I have no idea of what might be hardy enough for your location, I can't make specific plant suggestions. But your local nursery/garden center will have a selection in season. There are many dwarf conifers that will remain of a compact size for the foreseeable future and broadleaved evergreen shrubs come in a wide range of sizes as well.

IME, birds prefer to nest at higher elevations and are perfectly happy with deciduous trees for that purpose, since the trees are in leaf at that time. But smaller trees/shrubs make good perching and hiding places and shelter from the weather.
whaas_5a
6 years ago
There is a small bird species that creates a nest low in my evergreens but never could catch what it is.

How far are you from this place?

https://www.whistlinggardens.ca/05-downloads/200125-WG-Garden-Centre-1-Jan-2020-nursery-stock.pdf
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Pat Z5or6 SEMich
6 years ago
You took down what birds love best.
Chris Reher, z5b
Original Author
6 years ago
Don't remind me :( Unfortunately, the hedge took up not only a big chunk of my back yard but the neighbor's as well. I don't know why people plant cedars on small lots. I gained six feet of garden space by taking it down. (The neighbor's side was a wall of dead wood because they didn't know how to prune that monster properly)
Embothrium
6 years ago
You also lost whatever wind protection it might have been providing. Anyway since size seems to be a concern for you how big of a shrub - in terms of numerical measurements - are you visualizing the new additions being?