Bringing birds and butterflies into your garden

‘The greatest gift of the garden is the restoration of the five senses’

Hanna Rion



Eco garden in the city



When it comes to bringing the birds and butterflies into your garden you will need the right plants.  By planting indigenous plants you have taken the first and most important step. These plants will attract a whole host of different birds and butterflies to the garden. Mulching also attracts all your woodland birds they love to forage in the leaves for a meal of earthworms and other insect life.

Woodland section

Why not put a small wetland into your garden and invite all the aquatic birds into the garden, create a home for the frogs that are struggling to survive now that many of their natural habitats are being destroyed welcome the dragonflies and butterflies. Stock your wetland with our indigenous fish Tilapia and watch the water lilies open their sleepy heads at dawn. It will bring many memorable moments with its own little eco system in place.



Shallow sections lead to the waterfall at the bottom,the bird love to bath in them!





If your garden is too small to put in a wetland then birdbaths are always a great attraction. Instead of a conventional birdbath try a water feature. Make sure the surface is shallow so the birds can wade and drink from it. Plant a few reeds and bulrushes around the base you will have an attractive area for your wetland birds.

Indigenous trees provide homes for many creatures. Butterflies in their adult form use the nectar of the flowers for food and their larvae (caterpillars) use the leaves and seeds for food. Not to mention a whole host of birds. Food trees for birds are Rhus lancea , Rhus pendulina, Olea europaea and Podocarpus henkelli to name a few. Trees that the birds like to nest in are Combretum erythrophyllum, Acacia tortilis, Kigelia africana. There really are many more ‘Making the most of Indigenous Trees by Fanie & Julye – Ann Venter ‘ will help you .

Create a meadow in a quite corner of the garden. Scatter some indigenous grass seeds and a few of our indigenous bulbs the variety and colours are endless. Place a bench under your tree and watch as between the swaying grasses. Weavers visit to collect grasses to build a series of homes for their fussy wives. Seed eaters will greedily feed upon the seed heads. Butterflies will settle upon the pallet of colours to suck the nectar from the meadow flowers.



grey water feeds into a bed of bog plants



A quiet place to watch the birds

Place bird feeders in your garden; why not make your own unique feeder. Left over fruit such as bananas, paw paw, apples, oranges and avocados will be enjoyed by the Cape white eyes, Lourie’s. Place out the seed for the seed eaters, suet and bone meal for the insect eaters and you will enjoy a huge selection of bird life. Another favourite is peanut butter; if you have any pine cones lying around fill them with peanut butter and hang them by the feeding station the birds will be there in a matter of minutes. Of course they are nature’s natural pest controllers, eating up those slugs and aphids that drive most gardeners up the wall. So bear in mind the next time you spray that poisoned slugs and snails lying on the lawn are the Hoopoe’s and Hadeda’s dinner so avoid using harmful chemical sprays in a bird friendly garden.

Butterflies love nectar and some of the plants that they are attracted to are your Buddleia species not only does this beautiful species attract birds and butterflies many of their sprays of flowers have the most amazing fragrance. Pavetta Lanceolata, Salvia, Protea, Geraniums and Bauhinia galpini will become part of a valuable collection of plants for your butterfly garden. Another way to lure the butterflies into your garden is to plant some larval host plants such as the Cape chestnut ( Calodendrum capense) white ironwood (Vepris lanceolata) are two of my favourites but there are many others that you could plant.

  

A garden would not be a garden if it were not filled with the sounds of bird songs, butterflies and an activity of busy insects and other creatures.

Eco garden designed and built by whirlwind gardens.www.whirlwindgardens.co.za