Building a Bird Garden with Your Children

By Contributing Writer, Molly Evert

The Vision

Two of our sons have been avid bird watchers since they were little boys.  Their favorite place to watch birds was the woods beside our home.  When a building contractor destroyed those woods to make room for a new house, the boys were devastated!

They devised a plan to remedy the situation by building a bird sanctuary in our side yard. Their vision was to provide the birds with food and shelter, restoring the lost habitat by planting shrubs and trees.  They also wanted a water feature, some seed and nectar feeders, and a place to sit where they could enjoy watching their feathered friends once again.

My boys were just 6 and 8 years old when they breathlessly told me all about their big dreams of taking dominion in the garden. We didn’t have much manpower, but we had “boy power” in abundance.  Their 3-year-old and 11-year-old brothers were quick to sign on to the project.

Digging

Our boys wanted to plant dozens of shrubs and trees, yet digging even one large hole in our hard, Georgia clay took hours.  My husband and I hired someone with a power auger to help the boys turn their vision into reality.  They did in 5 hours what probably would have taken the boys 5 years!

After the power auger dug out 40 holes, many large enough for trees, we never needed to hire another professional. This was a project the boys wanted to do themselves, and my desire was to help them run with it. Although I provided oversight, they had ownership of the project, and they were the driving force behind everything.

Deciding What to Plant

They began by researching trees and shrubs that are attractive to birds. They wanted every plant to be appealing to songbirds for food, shelter, or both. Little by little, over the course of a year, they worked to fill those 40 holes. Then the boys dug 30 additional shrub-sized holes and kept on planting.

Planting

They got lots of practice preparing root bound plants, mixing enriched soil and manure with our Georgia clay, and learning how to plant trees and shrubs. Having never done any gardening before, I learned right along with them.

We started with Songbird Garden, putting in several Little Gem Magnolia and Southern Magnolia trees, holly bushes, flowering Cherry, Crepe Myrtle, flowering Dogwood, Leyland Cypress, and Little Giant pines.  We also planted several tall, spiky grasses which birds like to hide in. In a later phase of the project we added “Hummingbird Hollow,” planting butterfly bushes, Bridal Wreath, and Lantana, and adding a hummingbird feeder.

When choosing trees and shrubs the boys looked for plants which would attract particular birds native to our area by providing for their nesting and dietary needs. The plantings also needed to be well suited to our climate and able to tolerate a largely hands off approach. With a limited amount of space and money, we needed every plant to count by meeting each criteria.

Additional features

A kind neighbor and fellow birdwatcher built the boys a beautiful feeding station with both covered and platform feeders.  Each boy also worked with his grandfather to build a bird house, chosen specifically to attract their favorite bird species.

Some birds like to forage under rocks or in brush piles for insects, so the boys constructed some of each. They dreamed of putting in a pond, but I decided that required too much maintenance, so they were content to assemble two bird baths. They filled inexpensive suet feeders with nesting materials such as feathers and a cut up string mop.

Many birds like to “bathe” themselves in dust as it helps their feathers. The boys dug a large hole about 6″ deep and 2′ x 2′ square.  They filled it with equal parts sifted ash, sand, and dirt and lined the edge with rocks.  They placed a small feeder nearby to help draw the birds’ attention.

Beautification

After all the planting was done the boys laid down ground cloth for weed protection in the flower beds and on the paths through the garden.  Next, they hauled what felt like tons of quartz rock, gleaned from our own yard, and used it to line all the paths and beds throughout the garden.

This was a HUGE job, but fortunately (?) our soil is very rocky.  We even have some boulders that are big enough to sit on!  All this rock didn’t seem to be a good thing when we were digging holes and planting, but it saved a lot of money on edging.  Everyone felt a sense of accomplishment that they did this themselves with rock from our own yard.

Once they outlined the entire path and all the beds in rock, we mulched the path and flower beds.  The boys wanted to use contrasting colors, so they mulched all the paths throughout the garden in red cypress and the flower beds in brown cypress.  This was easier and less expensive than many of the alternatives they had considered for building the path.

Final touches

We added some old benches and children’s outdoor chairs to the garden so the boys could bird watch to their hearts’ content.  They also love to set up chairs in the front yard which gives them a great view of the feeding station.

The bird garden has drawn a wide variety of birds to our yard, and we take great pleasure in watching them.  The time spent working together to accomplish a common goal was a great joy!  The boys learned a lot about gardening, and we all felt the satisfaction of a job well done. Each boy, regardless of his age, was a valued and vital member of the team, and each one felt the thrill of taking dominion over their little corner of the earth.

The two middle boys were encouraged and uplifted that the family helped them run with their idea.  When we finally finished the bird garden they both felt loved, and excited about their next big idea!

Big Surprise

The boys entered their project in our local “Keep our county Beautiful” competition, and they were surprised and thrilled when their project won for the Beautification category!  The boys didn’t realize that their winning project would be sent on to the state-wide “Keep Georgia Beautiful” competition, so it was an even bigger surprise when they were notified that they took 2nd place in the state of Georgia for Beautification.  They were excited and encouraged by this recognition.

It has been five years since our boys turned over their first shovel-full of earth and began this dominion-taking venture .  The boys who dreamed of creating a bird sanctuary are 11 and 13 years old now.  They have been involved in other projects since then—though none as grand as this one—so far!

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