Attracting native wildlife to your garden

Invite the birds over

If you are designing a new garden or redeveloping an old, why not create a setting where native wildlife will be as equally at home - it may well double the pleasure you get from the garden! Even if your garden is small, it can still attract birds on a temporary basis, especially over winter and spring when the tui, bellbird and kereru (native wood pigeon) will travel considerable distances in search of flowers and fruit. Silvereye, grey warbler and fantail are insect eaters so plant varieties are not so important as a healthy organic mix of spiders, moths, beetles, wetas, earthworms, katydids and stick insects. A good layer of mulch or leaf litter on the garden will encourage insects and birds are a natural way of keeping them under control. Morepork and kingfisher eat insects as well as mice. Birds also pollinate flowers and give pleasure with their song. In making your garden attractive to native birds, introduced birds such as goldfinch, chaffinch, yellow hammer, blackbird, song thrush, house sparrow and starling are also likely residents.

Plant food species

Some rough ‘wild’ areas are ideal for wildlife, especially gullies, streams and boggy areas but it is possible to have a more formal garden and still have native birds visiting. This is more likely if you have native bush nearby and some favourite food trees for birds in either shelter belts or around the garden. These could include kowhai, flax, kaka beak and tarata for nectar and wineberry, karamu and korokia for fruit. The chart overleaf is a guide to some of the more important food bearing species, though it should be noted that not all grow in all parts of the country.

 As a general rule, choose plants that naturally occur in your area. Plant favourite bird

foods like flax and kowhai where you can see them from inside the house. But avoid planting too close to the house as reflections on windows can confuse birds. A number of kereru are killed every year trying to fly through panes of glass - a distressing way to die for such a beautiful bird.

Hang it high

Most native birds have become wary about feeding on the ground, wise to the fact that a cat may be lurking in the bushes. Think about growing ground creepers like Fuchsia procumbens in a hanging basket – it is a wonderful sight with red berries hanging down. Climbing plants like Metrosideros carminea, Passiflora tetranda (NZ passionfruit)  and Tecomanthe speciosa also have a place along a wall or over a pergola - but you do need a frost free site for Tecomanthe.

Keep it low

In designing your garden, consider making some safe areas for lizards by using low-growing, dense plants such as Coprosmas or Muehlenbeckia as well as rocks, dry stone walls, concrete slabs or even a log stack where lizards can hide from predators, especially cats.

Pushed for space?

If you have limited space for big trees, try growing plants in containers, for example, titoki, broadleaf or cabbage tree. Some shrubs like kakabeak can even be standardised to fit in with your garden design – but make sure you allow them to flower so the birds benefit.

What to plant

There are many native trees, shrubs and climbers that look attractive in the garden and also provide food and shelter for wildlife. The following is a selection only and there are many more. There are numerous hybrids and cultivars of native plants developed for garden situations but these should not be planted in or near natural bush so as to avoid cross pollination. Our staff should be able to advise further.

Botanical name , Common name & Features

Tall trees

Dacrycarpus dacrydioides kahikatea  f i

Elaeocarpus hookerianus pokaka  f i

Podocarpus totara totara  f b i

Prumnopitys ferruginea miro f b

Prumnopitys taxifolia matai  f b i

Trees & Tall Shrubs

Alectryon excelsus titoki  f

Aristotelia serrata makmako f i

Carpodetus serratus putaputaweta f b i

Coprosma species f l

Cordyline australis ti kouka f n i

Corynocarpus laevigatus karaka

Fuchsia excorticata kotukutuku f n b i

Griselinia littoralis kapuka  f b i

Hedycarya arborea porokaiwhiri  f i

Hoheria angustifolia hungere i

Knightia excelsa rewarewa n i

Kunzea ericioides kanuka n i

Leptospermum scoparium manuka n i

Lophomyrtus obcordata rohutu  f

Marcopiper excelsum kawakawa f

Melicope simplex poataniwha f i

Melicytus ramiflorus mahoe n b i f l

Myoporum laetum ngaio f n

Myrsine australis mapou f i l

Olearia species  tree daisies i

Pennantia corymbosa kaikomako f n i

Pittosporum eugenioides tarata f

Pittosporum tenuifolium kohuhu f i

Plagianthus regius manatu i

Pseudopanax arboreus whauwhaupaku f n i

Pseudopanax crassifolius horoeka f n b i

Pseudopanax ferox toothed lancewood f n b i

Pseudowintera colorata horopito f

Schefflera digitata patete f

Sophora species kowhai n i

Vitex lucens puriri f n i

Shrubs

Aristotelia fruiticosa  mountain wineberry f

Coprosma species f  b l

Corokia species & cultivars f n

Hebe species & cultivars i

Helichrysum lanceolatum niniao i

Melicytus alpinus porcupine shrub f l

Melicytus micrantus manakura f l

Muehlenbeckia astonii shrubby pohuehue f n l

Myrsine divaricata weeping matipo f i l

Neomyrtus pendunculata rohutu f n i

Phormium cookiaum wharariki n

Phormium tenax harakeke n

Podocarpus nivalis mountain totara f b i

Raukaua anomalus f n

Sophora species kowhai n i

Small shrubs and groundcovers

Astelia species f i

Clianthus puniceus n i

Libertia species NZ iris f n

Coprosma cultivars groundcovers f l

Dianella nigra turutu f

Fuchsia procumbens creeping fuchsia f n i

Muehlenbeckia axillaris creeping pohuehue f n l

M. complexa pohuehue white fruit f n l

Parahebe species n i

Pratia angulata panakenake f i l

Rubus parvus creeping lawyer f

Climbers

Clematis species n i

Metrosideros species n i

Parsonsia species b

Passiflora tetranda kohia f

Rubus species f

Ripogonum scandens kareao f

Tecomanthe speciosa n

f = fruit/seed

n = nectar

b = bud/foliage

I = insects

l = fruit for lizards