Photo courtesy of Kelly Riccetti at Red and the Peanut
Continuing our series on “Surviving the Winter by Staying Connected to Nature,” today’s post is about enjoying nature from inside, and in particular, feeding and watching the birds.
It’s true that one of the keys to making it through the winter is getting outside (more on that in the next post). But let’s face it: Even if we do venture forth, we’re probably not going to be out very long. So what is a “healing garden” in winter? One that we can gaze upon and enjoy from indoors. And what better way to hold our attention than watching the birds? It’s certainly been keeping me going this winter. This is the first year that I’ve noticed white-breasted nuthatches flitting back and forth from the bird feeder to the white oak. And in addition to the usual sparrows, crows, dark-eyed juncos, starlings, and cardinals, we seem to have more chickadees and tufted titmice (titmouses?) this year as well. Such a delight!
I want to especially encourage nurses, administrators, volunteers and family members who care for seniors to do more to attract birds. Place bird feeders and baths (you can even buy heated ones) outside of private and community windows. Watching, identifying, and counting birds can bring a great deal of meaning (and social interaction) into people’s lives. Bird-watching is an excellent antidote to the common problems of boredom, loneliness, and isolation.
No matter what your age, here are some resources to get you started. There are two primary ways to attract birds to the garden. First, plant things that birds are attracted to for food and habitat. The following books and websites will help you choose what to plant and how to keep a garden that’s bird-friendly throughout the year:
- A nice article about How to Grow Your Own Bird Seed in the Garden.
- You can even plant specific things to attract specific birds. For example, goldfinches are drawn to Echinacea (purple coneflower), black-eyed Susans, Zinnias, sunflowers, and especially thistle – not only for the food but for the downy fibers used to line their nests (thanks to my new favorite blog Red and the Peanut for this info). Another example: Bluebirds loooove winterberry (Ilex verticillata).
- National Audubon Society’s book The Bird Garden: A Comprehensive Guide to Attracting Birds to Your Backyard Throughout the Year.
- National Wildlife Federation’s book Attracting Birds, Butterflies & Backyard Wildlife and also their Garden for Wildlife page.
- Rodale Organic Gardening’s Attracting Birds to Your Backyard.
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s All About Birds page.
- Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s book The Wildlife Gardener’s Guide, and their website Inviting Wildlife Into Your Winter Garden.
- The U.K.’s Wildlife Gardener.
- On the “macro” level, think about attracting not just the birds, but the critters that attract the birds. Insects, in general, provide a lot more nutrition than seed. Doug Tallamy’s Bringing Nature Home: How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants explains how this works and why we should care.
- Here are some of Tallamy’s top recommendations of both woody and herbaceous plants that support the butterflies and moths that feed the birds and keep our ecosystem healthy.
- I also highly recommend Bill Cullina’s list of Biodiversity All-Stars – the plants that support more than one species at a time – on the New England Wild Flower Society website. His list of top ten includes oak, crabapple, serviceberry, and red cedar.
- And finally, Carole Brown’s Choosing the Best Plants for Your Ecosystem Garden. Ecosystem Garden is a garden that supports the entire ecosystem, sustainably, rather than just us, or one type of animal or crop. You can read the full explanation here.
Second to providing natural food and habitat in your garden, supplement with birdfeeders and bird baths. The National Bird-Feeding Society is a great place to start. Learn about bird feed and feeder preference; how to prevent disease at bird feeders; best backyard bird-feeding practices, and more. And many of the websites listed above also provide information about this aspect of backyard bird-care as well.
All of these resources, plus a few more, are on the Therapeutic Landscapes Network’s Sensory & Wildlife Plants page. Stop on by, and if you have other recommendations, let us know.
Okay, I give in. Lots of websites are posting suggestions for resolutions; I might as well jump on the New Year’s Resolutions Bandwagon with my own recommendations.
by Stephanie Donaldson – A very sweet little book (it really is little, measuring 5.5 x 6.5″) with hundreds of beautiful photographs and great ideas. I like the mixture of garden styles in this book – everything from traditional cottage-type gardens to wild meadows to very modern, spare, contemplative spaces.
by Sue Minter – This was one of my first “healing gardens” books. I really like Minter’s first chapter, “The Healing Arts: A marriage of botany and medicine” for its overview of the history of healing gardens and the therapeutic use of plants and nature. In general, her scope is broad, touching on a lot of aspects of healing gardens, from herbs and organic vegetables to Feng Shui and color theory. A delightful buffet for those who like a little bit of everything. 
. I’m not sure how it differs from the one above, and I’m sorry to say I don’t have it…yet.
by Gay Search – After a short overview, Search delves into more detail with herbs, both culinary and medicinal; flowers, especially as used for color and scent; water in the garden; and low-allergen gardens. She includes some good plant lists and suggestions for each category, and 
by Romy Rawlings – I’d say that “holistic gardening” is the main thrust of this book – that to create a garden that is healing for us, we must create a healthy garden. In other words, be good to the earth and she will reward you. After an overview of this concept, Rawlings focuses on the following topics: Feng Shui (a whole chapter, looking at the various schools); color therapy; herbalism, with both culinary and medicinal herbs; aromatherapy; and styles of gardens, including meditation and Zen.
by Derek Jarman – It’s funny how many of the above-listed books refer to Derek Jarman’s garden and have at least one picture of it from this book. It’s one of my personal favorites, too. Not your garden-variety garden book, but truly beautiful, inspiring. and life-affirming. 
