Skip This Garden Cleanup Step If You Want To Attract Birds In The Fall

If you're a backyard bird enthusiast, chances are good that you feed the birds during the fall and winter months, when natural food sources are scarce. However, what you clean up or leave in the garden is equally important in your mission to support birds. You may want to hold off on deadheading some of your perennials or annuals. Those seed heads you're clipping off may be vital sources of food for many types of birds, and this action can complement other bird-friendly garden tasks to increase the likelihood of visits this fall.

It's a common practice among gardeners to deadhead spent flowers from perennials and annuals. While doing so can make your garden look cleaner and encourage new plant growth, removing seed heads may be a huge disadvantage for local and migrating birds who might feed on them. Some of their known favorite seeds include coneflower, clematis, sunflower, and winterberry, as well as zinnia, salvia, petunia, and cosmos. For this reason, you may wish to hold off on deadheading your perennials until spring, or right before new plant growth begins.

Just as filling your bird feeder with a mixed bag of birdseed can attract different species, so too can a variety of flowers seeds invite a wide range of birds to the garden. Some of these species include chickadees, finches, cardinals, tanagers, and grosbeaks, who may eat the seeds from the plants directly. Other birds, such as doves, sparrows, and juncos may feed on spent seeds that fall to the ground.

Resisting the urge to deadhead all of your garden plants in the fall is only one way you can transform your outdoor spaces into more bird-friendly areas. Certain birds benefit from fallen leaves in the autumn because leaves provide shelter for insects, another potential food source . This is the same reason to leave the leaves for hummingbirds. If you don't have to remove leaves from your yard, consider putting aside the rake or leaf blower and let some of these remain to promote a more diverse ecosystem.

Finally, leaving up seed heads doesn't mean you should forego putting up a bird feeder in your garden. In fact, having numerous sources of food will benefit a larger variety of birds instead of just one. Don't forget to also offer a source of clean water year-round so birds can have a safe spot for drinking and bathing. As temperatures cool, you may also consider using a heater to prevent the birdbath water from freezing.