Attracting Hummingbirds to Your Garden

Attracting hummingbirds to your garden can be a boon in a couple of different ways. The first way is that these birds are a beautiful addition to any garden, bringing vibrant color and life to your landscape. The second way is that hummingbirds can often act as a natural propagator for your plants. In order to begin attracting those pretty little birds, you need to follow a few simple guidelines. After you have followed these guidelines, and all your elements are in place, you can simply sit back and enjoy the beauty that will be added to your garden.

• Design appropriately. If you really want to have hummingbirds in your garden, then you need to view the whole garden as one big habitat. This means that everything in your garden and landscape needs to be designed towards enticing hummingbirds to come and visit you. Incorporate areas that are sunny as well as shady, and provide a constant source of clean water. Ideally, your garden will look and feel as natural as possible when you are done.
• Choose the right plants. There are all kinds of plants that can attract a hummingbird to your garden. The best plants are the ones that are colorful and filled with nectar. Fragrance means very little to hummingbirds, so don't pay attention to that. Rather, use plants such as Red Columbine, Hollyhock, Honeysuckle, and Fuchsia. If you are looking for a tree, then you may want to consider using something like the Mimosa Silk tree. Be careful though when using this one, since it can be pretty invasive.
• Use feeders. If you will be using a feeder, then you want to make sure that it is bright red, so that the birds can see it from a long way off. The only thing that you should put into your feeder is sugar-water, never anything like honey. If you use honey, you may end up killing your little guests, since honey can potentially develop a fungus when left out which will prove fatal to the birds. When you mix your sugar water, use a ratio of 4 to 1. This means four parts of water, to one part sugar.
• Reduce predator problems. Hummingbirds can often provide a tasty treat for local predators, such as cats. This being said, you should limit any possible predator problem as much as you can. Do not hang a bird feeder anywhere near where a cat can hide, or near anything that a bird can pounce off of.