Alan Titchmarsh’s plants that will get birds in your garden

The UK is home to a wide variety of birds, and many gardeners are keen to make their outdoor spaces welcoming to them.

There are several ways to do this, including putting up a bird box or a bird feeder, as well as installing a bird bath.

However, planting a number of different shrubs can also help encourage birds to spend a bit of time in your garden.

7 plants that help birds to flock to your garden

In a video on his YouTube channel, Gardening with Alan Titchmarsh called ‘How to Transform Your Garden Into a Paradise for Birds!’, the broadcaster brought up the topic of which plants to have.

He shared: “Another way to encourage birds to come to your garden is to plant things they will find useful, particularly in terms of food.”

For example, the Beautyberry or ‘callicarpa’ is a berry-bearing plant that robins and sparrows love.

Alan added: “Stick it at the back of a border where it will be background for most of the year, but then come autumn, look what it does, it really draws your eye.”

The 76-year-old also advocated for the Firethorn and Cotoneaster Horizontalis as examples of plants that birds were attracted to for their fruit.

He added: “Don’t be cross with birds for nicking your berries, that’s half the reason why we plant them really.”

Birds also appreciate a number of different thorny plants for shelter, so Alan recommended getting Berberis or Holly as they help repel any predators.

Some forms of Holly can also have another impact in providing some fruit for the birds to snack on.

A couple of trees can also be useful for nesting and feeding purposes if you have them in your garden.

Alan said: “Trees not only bring height to a garden, but they also provide nesting sites and feeding sites for birds.

“Cherries flower earlier in the year in summer, and as anybody who’s grown a cherry tree knows, birds love the fruit.”

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Some crab apple trees work for this, too, such as the Golden Hornet crabapple variety.

The tree produces a bright display of yellow fruit that’s not too big for a modest-sized garden.

Birds especially like the fruit when it gets quite soft after having been on the tree for a little while.

Do you have any of these plants in your garden? Let us know in the comments.