By Doug Jimerson

In January, while the flowers of summer are buried under a blanket of snow, our Test Gardens remain colorful, thanks to a constant stream of visiting songbirds. On any given day, flocks of goldfinches, house finches, cardinals, blue jays, red-bellied woodpeckers, downy and hairy woodpeckers, several species of sparrows, juncos, nuthatches, and chickadees visit the feeders outside our family room windows. In fact, each year it seems we get more and more birds stopping by for a snack. This winter, for example, we’ve played host to a squadron of cedar waxwings, that gorge themselves on the small, hanging fruits on our Sargeant crabapple tree. Usually this nomadic species swoops in (always in tight knit flocks) eats, and moves on to another location, but this season they’ve pitched their tents in the evergreen windbreak and only travel as far as the crabapple for refueling. Sadly, when we first moved to our farm 18 years ago, there were few birds around the place. With the exception of the windbreak, there wasn’t another shrub, tree, or vine planted anywhere near the house or other buildings. It was obvious we needed to do some major landscaping, something that would make our new home a haven for both our family and the local wildlife. We started by making a list of trees, shrubs, vines, and ground covers that would survive in our region, have more than one season of interest, and, if possible, produce either food or cover for the birds.  Then, we started planting, focusing

on trees the first year, with species such as serviceberry, crabapple, redbud, oak, sugar maple, hawthorn, linden, spruce, pine and a mini orchard of fruit trees. Gradually we added shrubs such as cranberry, Pagoda dogwood, red-osier dogwood, cotoneaster, spirea, hydrangea, lilac, yew, raspberry, and barberry. The vines we chose included: wisteria, trumpet vine, Virginia creeper, Boston ivy, hops, and clematis. In addition to all this planting, we also erected a variety of bird feeders and houses around the property to lure the greatest assortment of bird species throughout the year. For winter months, we added thistle feeders for the finches, platform feeders for the cardinals and juncos, suet feeders for the woodpeckers and nuthatches, and tube feeders for the chickadees. For summer visitors, we added bluebird houses, wren houses, purple martin apartment houses, hummingbird feeders, and nesting platforms for robins and barn swallows. Plus, we installed two birdbaths and a water garden--you’d be surprised at how many birds and other animals you can attract with even a small water garden. Click here if you'd like to take a tour of our test gardens