Looking out of my kitchen window over breakfast I see a garden in action. Birds are flitting across one way, then the other in the quest for the juiciest berries and fruit. A small flock of Redwings has visited us over the last week or so and they have a taste for the crabapples dripping from the loaded branches onto the lawn. Blackbirds and Redwings seem to tolerate each other but if a fellow male blackbird lands, that’s another story.
Redwing and blackbird sharing the feast
It highlights the importance of having plants in the garden that can sustain creatures into the winter. A Rowan or a Crabapple make perfect small garden trees. There are many varieties with different coloured leaves and berries and of differing shapes and sizes. We all love the colours and interest these trees bring and, in the case of a holly tree bright with its red jewels, get cross when all the berries have ben taken ahead of Christmas decoration making. But the berries are not for us, they are for the birds and we need to remember that. The birds eat the berries and fruits and are the great seed spreaders. It’s such an important part of the ecological cycle.
Autumn is the best time to plan tree planting as winter offers bare root plants which are lower in price and usually take to the soil more successfully. Not all trees like every soil type so seek advice as to the right tree for your garden and enjoy the bounty along with the birds for years to come.
