Songbird Hedgerows - Something to Consider

Spring is around the corner and so of course our thoughts are teeming with ideas for our gardens. While we like to repeat what’s working in the garden (that amsonia hubrechti - Arkansas Blue Star - really performed in all four seasons!) we’re also intent on trying new things each year. That’s what makes gardening satisfying and exciting and it just makes sense -- gardens are living, dynamic things. And heck, if the new thing you try out doesn’t work out, well, you can try something different the following year. (We gardeners are often humbled, aren’t we?)

Here’s something to consider for your landscape that’s both a new thing and something different: plant a songbird hedge. This natural growing ‘fence’ can play the same role as a traditional fence: screening out neighbors’ yards, muffling out street noise or establishing property lines. But frankly, metal and wooden post fences are often unattractive or downright ugly (hello chain link fence, I’m talking to you) and they send a message to the community at large that isn’t so neighborly. A songbird hedge is not only much more attractive and a better long-term investment, it’s also incredibly beneficial to the tired migrating birds that might visit your garden, looking for a meal and a little R & R. You can have a “fence” that is very much alive and filled with pleasant sounds, smells and eye-catching textures.

We’re not talking about green things that have to be clipped and manicured and fussed over as though you were Edward Scissorhands. No, we’re talking about a combination of attractive but easy to maintain trees, shrubs, vines and low growing blooms that mature to different heights and are allowed to grow naturally. By incorporating different layers of healthy plants found in your own native landscape, you’ll establish a hedge that is pleasing to look at and is a haven and crucial food source for songbirds. This article from Janet Marinelli at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden expertly (and with biting wit!) makes the case for planting songbird hedges. Even if you don’t build the hedge, it’s a good read simply to learn about the incredible challenges migrating songbirds face.

You don’t have to start from scratch when creating your own songbird hedge. Use the existing canopy and understory trees like the mighty oak, dogwood and sumac and add shrubs, vines and nectar plants. As far as other plantings are concerned, we recommend native shrubs like the spicebush, Mapleleaf viburnum and chokeberry; a Virginia creeper vine; and flowering natives like columbine, bleeding heart and cardinal flower. As far as getting your hands-on these shrubs and trees, Prairie Godmothers uses Godmother-certified suppliers located in the Midwest and we can hook you up!

If we all made the change from fences to hedges, that hackneyed old saying would have to become “Hedgerows Make Good Neighbors.”