Grow These Plants To Feed Your Local Wildlife Through Winter
Winter can feel quiet for many gardeners, but for local wildlife, it’s a stressful season that’s all about survival. As gardens fade and food sources start to disappear, birds, insects, and small mammals have to search harder for something to eat. That’s where you can help! By planting the right things in your yard, you can offer safe, nourishing options for these critters all winter long! You don’t need a giant property to make a difference either. Just a few of the right plants can help wildlife stay fed through the cold.
American Beautyberry
This shrub lives up to its name in more ways than one. In fall and early winter, the American beautyberry is covered in bright purple berries that birds love, especially mockingbirds, cardinals, and finches. The berries hang on through frost, offering food for the birds when other sources are gone. Beautyberry is easy to grow in planting zones 6 through 10, and it’s also deer-resistant. It adds color to any winter landscape and reliably does its part to keep local birds going.
Purple Coneflower (Echinacea)
You might think of coneflowers as a summer favorite, but leave the seed heads standing into winter, and you’ll see finches visiting regularly. Goldfinches, in particular, go wild for the seeds. The dry flower heads look a little ragged by January, but they’re still valuable to these hungry, little birds. If you usually tidy up your flower beds in fall, try letting these seed heads stay until spring. It’s a simple way to help, and the birds will thank you.
Winterberry Holly
Unlike some other hollies, this one loses its leaves in winter but leaves behind bright red berries that pop against bare branches and snow. They’re especially appealing to birds like cedar waxwings and robins, who stick around in winter and need to find food. If you’re planting it, make sure you’ve got both male and female plants because only the females produce berries, and the male is needed for pollination. Winterberry also handles wet soil well, which makes it a great fit for lower, soggier areas in your yard. It’s a festive favorite that looks great and helps out the local wildlife.
Sunflowers
Yes, they’re most popular in summer, but if you leave the dried flower heads on the stalk, sunflowers become a buffet for birds. Chickadees, titmice, and nuthatches will happily hang around all season to peck out the dried seeds. They don’t care if the flower heads look messy, but if you’re concerned, you can just leave a few flower heads instead of all of them. If you’re growing sunflowers next year, you can always plant a few extras just for the birds and leave them stand tall through winter. It’s an easy, low-effort way to help through your garden, and a great excuse to do a little less cleaning up.
Elderberry
These fast-growing shrubs produce clusters of dark berries that ripen in late summer but linger into early winter. While they’re loved by songbirds and even small mammals, elderberries also look lovely in a natural, winter landscape. They grow well in zones 3 through 9 and do best in moist, well-drained soil. Just remember, they spread pretty fast, so give them some room to grow. In winter, when the pickings get slim, elderberries really pull their weight for the local wildlife.
Switchgrass
Native grasses like switchgrass offer more than just visual appeal. They provide seeds for birds and shelter for all kinds of small critters. The tall, airy seed heads are especially popular with sparrows and juncos as the weather gets colder. Switchgrass is tough, drought-tolerant, and keeps its structure through winter, even after the first snowfall. It’s a nice way to add movement and texture to your garden while giving wildlife something to hide in when things turn cold.
Crabapple Trees
While not everyone loves cleaning up fallen crabapples, the wildlife sure doesn’t mind if you miss a few. Many varieties hold onto their fruit into the colder months, which provides a valuable food source for hungry birds, squirrels, and even deer. Even better, the fruit softens after a few freezes, making it easier for animals to eat. Just choose a disease-resistant variety and let a few of those little apples stay on the tree instead of tidying them all up.
Serviceberry (Juneberry)
The serviceberry is a plant that pulls double duty. In spring and summer, it offers nectar for pollinators and sweet berries for humans and wildlife to enjoy. But even when the berries are mostly gone by late fall, the tree’s structure provides valuable shelter. Birds will perch, roost, and hunt for leftover fruit into winter. Serviceberries are also beautiful, with smooth gray bark and a lovely shape, so don’t worry about how it’ll look in your yard. It’s a plant that keeps on giving, all year round.
Goldenrod
Goldenrod gets blamed unfairly for allergies (it’s actually ragweed’s fault), but this native plant is incredibly helpful for local wildlife. Its seeds feed finches and sparrows, and the stems often protect overwintering insects. It’s also one of the last blooming nectar sources for bees in fall. Leave the stalks standing after the flowers fade, and they’ll continue helping animals through the winter. It may not look the tidiest, but it’s quietly doing a lot to support the whole food chain.
Oak Trees
If you’ve got the space, an oak tree is one of the best long-term gifts you can give to local wildlife. Acorns are a key food source for squirrels, deer, turkeys, jays, and more. Even when the tree is young and not producing acorns yet, it still provides shelter and nesting space for birds and little critters. It’s one of the many reasons they’ve become such a popular tree. If you care about the future of your yard, and the creatures who visit it, this is one tree to consider.
Let Your Garden Help Through the Cold
Feeding wildlife through winter doesn’t mean you need to spend money on feeders or stockpile birdseed. The plants in your yard can do a lot of the hard work. Letting a few flowers stand, planting a berry-producing shrub, or leaving some fallen fruit on the ground can all help birds and other animals stay strong until spring. It’s one of the simplest ways to give back to nature, and it adds beauty to your winter yard, too.