How to Grow Your Own Wild Bird Food
Commercial wild bird seed attracts birds to your yard but is pricey. Why not dedicate part of your garden to growing seeds, flowers and berries that the birds can eat directly? You also can grow plants that provide seeds for wintertime bird feeding. Birds are experts at foraging for seeds and can do a better job than you at harvesting them from spent flower heads. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Plant flowers that have wide faces with large seeds that are easy to pick and harvest. These include many varieties of sunflower. Plant these so that you can save the dried flower heads for feeding wild birds during the winter.
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Grow flowers that bloom and go to seed at different times, from early spring through fall, so that your garden can attract birds throughout the year. Flowers for spring seeds include coreopsis and millet. Flowers for summer seeds include: black-eyed Susan; Blazing Star liatris; coreopsis; cosmos; goldenrod and millet. Flowers for fall seeds include: Autumn Joy sedum; black-eyed Susan; cosmos; goldenrod and millet .
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Cultivate bushes that offer berries birds enjoy, as well as those with flowers that attract hummingbirds. Honeysuckle provides nectar-filled flowers, as well as berries that birds like to eat. Holly, Mahonia and Nightshades are other plants that provide berries for birds to feast on. Plant fuchsia, chuparosa and columbine to attract birds with their flowers.
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