Winter garden birds

You might not want to get outside in the garden when it’s cold, but the birds that visit your garden are there in search of food to keep them going throughout the colder months, so it’s a good idea to be prepared for them.

Some smaller birds have to eat almost a third of their own body weight in food every single day, so putting out lots of high energy food for them will really make a difference.

The top five birds that you’re likely to spot in your garden in winter are:

Robin
They are the face of many a Christmas card for a reason; robins are the most commonly spotted bird in UK gardens over the winter. They can occasionally nest in unusual and even unsuitable places, and in gardens they tend to favour dense hedges or creepers near to the ground. They are also quite partial to a nest box. They mainly eat insects like meal worms but will also appreciate fat balls and ground peanuts too.

Blue Tit
Although Blue Tits are usually woodland dwellers, they like to visit gardens and are common in urban areas and parks too. They like a garden where there’s a wealth of insects to eat, especially aphids. They are agile little birds and love to cling to a hanging feeder. They also love to make a nest box their home. To feed Blue Tits in your garden, put out sunflower seeds, peanuts and fat balls.

Blackbird
In the garden, blackbirds mostly feed on soil invertebrates like earthworms, so if your garden has plenty of flower beds and lawns you’re likely to attract them. Shrubs with berries also attract them in winter. Blackbirds like to nest in shrubs and hedges if the weather is mild they sometimes lay their eggs as early as February, so keep an eye out for them. Put out some kitchen scraps, especially raisins and other fruits.

Great Tit
These birds love to frequent gardens, parks and open spaces – in fact anywhere there’s a tree. They visit gardens to feed on mainly insects, and in winter they also like to forage for tree seeds. If you want to see them in the garden, entice them in with sunflower seeds, peanuts and fat balls.

Chaffinch
Chaffinches spend most of their time feeding on the ground, and you’ll often spot them under seed feeders or bird tables. They are creatures of habit and it’s not unusual to see the same birds returning to your garden for up to five years. They eat insects and small seeds and build their mossy nests in shrubs and hedges. To encourage them into your garden, give them seeds and peanut pieces.

November pruning of trees and shrubs

You might think that now it’s November, you can take it easy in the garden apart from the occasional tidying up of leaves and mulch. Your work isn’t done yet, though. It’s true that by this time of the year, the garden is pretty much dormant, but this actually makes it a really good time of year to prune back many popular garden plants.

It’s perfectly fine to prune many plants throughout the dormant season. In fact, it can even be easier to do, because as soon as the leaves have you can see the shape and prune back to it. If you’ve planted any new trees recently, prune them back now and remove any damaged growth. This will help to balance the shape of the canopy. You could also take off any damaged or lop-sided growth
from established trees.

It’s not too late to complete any leftover pruning jobs you didn’t get around to in October and get them sorted ready for the winter. If you haven’t managed to prune back any of your winter-stemmed shrubs, they can still be cut back at the beginning of November. Prune them back hard and cut all of the previous year's growth to around 1-2cm.

You can also safely prune back some of the shrubs that would traditionally be cut back hard in early spring. Doing the work early can benefit them, as it helps to keep the plants’ larger and more brightly coloured young foliage – think about doing this to plants like such as smoke bushes and elders. If you don’t want to lose any of the bushes’ height, you could always leave a few of the branches untouched over the winter.

Don’t be tempted to prune back any spring-flowering shrubs like forsythia just yet though – keep an eye on them and wait until they have finished flowering, otherwise you’ll miss out on this year’s display.

If you have lavender in the garden, lightly cut it back so that they don’t grow back too woody. The same applies to curry plant and cotton lavender plants. Prune existing roses right back by about half to prevent 'wind rock.'

Take off any frost damaged shoots from evergreens that have already been damaged by cold weather, and then remove any reverted green shoots on hardy variegated evergreens. Keeping everything pruned back and tidy over winter will ensure that in spring you have a garden to be proud of.