Gardening On Cape Cod Is For The Birds

By BARBARA CLARK

He’s an adolescent, as tall as his mom, and he enjoys many of the strengths and smarts of an adult. But when it comes to getting his next meal without working for it, he’s still nagging at Mom to provide him with food and other comforts that he received from her as a tiny youngster.

Two young siblings—but only one has a treat in her possession. It’s tussle time, and she defends her treasure, physically fending off her brother’s move to grab it, raising her tiny leg to push on his chest.

Are these scenes from your own home? Nope—it’s one of the many little dramas unfolding right outside the window at your bird feeder. We’re talking about birds here and we’re the human spectators, tuning in from our kitchen windows to watch all the action. Our neighborhood birds visit us daily. They’re colorful, fierce, playful, unexpected, often majestic, acting out their many adventures before our eyes.

Feeding wild birds has become a wildly popular pastime, especially post-COVID, for an estimated 59 million Americans, according to the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Moreover, backyard bird watchers and environment-friendly enthusiasts are implementing more ways to encourage these bird friends to visit our own home gardens. These custom backyard ecosystems welcome birds and help satisfy their year-round nutritional needs, all from the “fruits of the earth,” while helping reduce the spread of bird-borne diseases that can sometimes arise from uneaten birdseed that languishes at feeder stations.

To Feed Or Not To Feed

Bird fanciers know there are plenty of pros and cons about feeding birds. Views range from longtime enthusiastic supporters to those who insist it may not be the best way to promote a true conservation ethic. These folks suggest that backyards and gardens that contain bird-friendly trees and plantings can be another good way to preserve native habitat and welcome avian visitors.

“It’s not all or nothing,” said Kristin Andres, director of education and outreach for the Association to Preserve Cape Cod. There are many levels of choice about creating nature-friendly spaces in our own backyards, she said, ranging from a variety of bird feeders and birdbaths to, literally, letting the grass grow and encouraging native plants and shrubs.

Backyard ecosystems, she said, are alternative landscaping choices that might be making a small dent in our longstanding preference for what she called “palatial lawns.” It’s “how we’ve been marketed to,” she noted, and a move toward more nature-friendly spaces is something of a “social change,” albeit on a small scale. Andres quotes garden designer and author Benjamin Vogt as saying, “We have to rethink pretty.”

‘They’re All My Neighbors’

Asked why people are keen on attracting wild birds, C.L. Fornari, well-known local host of the weekly “The Garden Lady” call-in radio show on WCAI-FM, explained that birds “attract pollinators and help balance the ecosystem.” Beyond that, though, she touts birds’ longtime pedigrees as friendly nature ambassadors, as they fly back and forth at the edges of our human world. Birds “lift our hearts…[and add] color and life” to the world around us, she said.  

“Everything is connected to everything else,” Fornari said. As we welcome a variety of bird, animal and insect life to our backyards, “we learn to live with our neighbors. We garden to be in harmony with nature.” In addition to her avian visitors, Fornari sees plenty of nature’s variety—foxes, coyote, deer, woodchucks and more—in addition to important pollinators like butterflies, bees and hummingbirds. She said, “They’re all my neighbors.” To her native plantings, she adds sunflower-based bird seed to supplement the garden nutrition. Not to mention her feeders offer a daily look at nature’s many creatures and their activities and antics.

Nature columnist Mary Richmond, whose “Nature Watch” column has appeared weekly in The Falmouth Enterprise since the early 2000s, has been an organic gardener for 40 years. She suggests that as people create their garden landscapes, they consider how much wildlife activity they want to invite to their gardens. What’s your tolerance for maybe “a little mayhem?” she asked. “My yard is always abuzz.”

“Do your homework,” she said, and plant accordingly. Plantings that attract birds will “bring you in contact with the larger world.” Hands-on gardening “changes our mental health”—and in a positive way, she added. Respecting our own backyard ecosystems “helps us respect the bigger ones around us.”

Both Fornari and Richmond have been developing their home landscapes over many years. It’s a choice, they say, with positive dividends for both humans and their bird visitors. “And nothing,” Fornari said, “is more pleasing on a summer evening than watching Team Swallow take to the skies.”

As an artist Richmond is also a careful observer, and that includes sketching “on the fly” many of the visitors to her garden. Her journal’s watercolor sketches depict the birds and their activities: colorful bird feathers; a nest, sometimes with eggs; a bright-eyed chickadee or goldfinch, or the glow of blackberries or the wild blooms of a flowering Echinacea or Black-eyed Susan.  

“It’s how I keep in tune with what I’m experiencing,” Richmond said. “My work is not meant to be scientific in any way. It is just a way for me to process and share what I see/experience. I love encouraging others to do the same because I believe noticing and noting help us engage in a deeper way when we draw and/or write about it.”

‘Everything Is Connected To Everything Else’

These gardening experts agree on several important “musts” that contribute to an environmentally friendly backyard.

Say “no” to all invasives, such as the ever-present bittersweet, rosa multiflora or Japanese knotweed—or the fast-spreading English ivy that seems to proliferate on Cape Cod. These and many other plant species can overtake and out-maneuver native plants for available space. There are many online sources offering lists of native plants that are appropriate for growing in our oceanside environment.

Clean water is crucial—change that birdbath often, and do it daily during bird-busy times. A clean water source reduces the chance of spreading diseases from bird to bird. Likewise, clean out birdhouses in the fall, so the mice may be discouraged from taking over these handy apartments. That helps ensure that the bluebirds, swallows and wrens will return to nest again early the following March.

Nix anything that resembles insect sprays, herbicides or pesticides. Use only organic fertilizers.

“Don’t be too fussy about cleanup,” Richmond said. Let native grasses and plants grow. Some, like viburnum or blueberries—just “let them go,” for shelter and as a food source. “When a perennial goes to seed, don’t cut it down,” Fornari seconded. Plants such as goldenrod and aster, with seeds that burst out in the fall, offer nutritious food for birds well into the winter months. Other native plants and shrubs, such as elderberry or holly and many more, offer winter sustenance for birds.

If you can, provide shelter options—important year round, but especially in cold winter weather. Fornari described a winter tangle of vine-y honeysuckle and climbing roses at one end of her porch, which can offer shelter to birds during tough weather. She echoed Richmond’s advice to let that pile of dead branches remain, at a little distance from your home, instead of paying someone to haul it away. Birds can shelter or nest near the ground as well as in trees, vines and shrubs.

As for feeders, Fornari said, be aware that some commercial seed is not popular with the birds at your feeders, so it can remain, uneaten, attracting mold or rodents. It’s important to clean regularly and not overstock feeding stations. And feed your birds in the afternoon, so they’ll have enough inner sustenance to live through a cold night.

So go wild, Richmond said—don’t forget pollinator plants such as the ethereal milkweed, mountain mint, blazing star (liatris) or joe-pye weed. As for native trees, look into some of the stars, like wild cherry, native oak, red cedar or a mated pair of holly trees. It’s a veritable Eden.

Resources

Local Programming

• Talk: “A Native Cape Cod Garden: Discovering the Nature Connection,” by Kristin Andres, 1 PM, March 9, Cape Cod Museum of Natural History. Tickets: 508-896-3867.
• “The Garden Lady”: WCAI (NPR station 90.1 FM), hosted by C.L. Fornari, 1 PM Saturdays and streaming on https://www.capeandislands.org/.
• “Nature Watch”: Mary Richmond’s weekly column appears each Friday in The Falmouth Enterprise.

Publications

• Association to Preserve Cape Cod: Fact sheets on many aspects of eco-friendly landscapes are available at (https://apcc.org/resources/fact-sheets/) in Dennis. (508-619-3185).
• “Guidelines for Cape-friendly Landscapes,” 40-page booklet illustrated by Marcy Ford, produced by APCC in Dennis; also available at Cape Cod Museum of Natural History, Route 6A, Brewster.
• The National Wildlife Federation: Custom lists of native plants to grow in our area (https://nativeplantfinder.nwf.org/), as well as suggestions for creating the four essential habitat elements—food, water, cover and places to raise young.

Nature Initiatives

• Hyannis Country Garden, 380 West Main Street, Hyannis. The seven-acre garden center has free handouts that cover many aspects of eco-friendly gardening (508-775-8703).
• Mass Audubon Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, Route 6, South Wellfleet (508-349-2615). The 1,183-acre wildlife sanctuary is open year round. Check out their Native Plant Initiative lists at (https://www.massaudubon.org/nature-wildlife/plants/native-beneficial-plants).
• Pollinator Pathway Cape Cod (https://www.pollinator-pathway.org/towns/cape-cod). An initiative “to create corridors of native trees, shrubs and flowers” for birds and insects on Cape Cod. See (pollinatorpathwaycapecod@gmail.com) for a list of New England native plants for pollinators and suggestions about joining the initiative.

Other Websites

• The Commonwealth of Massachusetts offers information and resources at “Growing Wild Massachusetts” (https://www.mass.gov/guides/growing-wild-massachusetts).
• EcoBeneficial (https://www.ecobeneficial.com/ask_ecobeneficial/bird-friendly-plants-cape-cod/) has area-specific lists of plants and trees for eco-friendly gardens. EcoBeneficial founder Kim Eierman’s book, “The Pollinator Victory Garden,” is available through bookstores, Amazon or at EcoBeneficial.com.