Native plants have the advantage that they are often more robust. Their much greater benefit lies in the habitat they provide for animals, because they are nesting sites and food sources at the same time. These shrubs are optimal for birds and insects.

In a nutshell

  • many bird and insect friendly shrubs can be used as hedge plants
  • native shrubs are better adapted to local conditions, often more robust and less maintenance-intensive
  • Blackberries and raspberries are particularly popular with bumblebees
  • many shrubs have a dual function and are bird and insect friendly

Shrubs for birds and insects from B to G

Blackberry (Rubus fruticosus)

Bee on blackberry blossom
  • Height: 100 to 300 cm
  • Annual growth: 50 to 250 cm
  • flowers: white to pink, cupped
  • Flowering period: June to August
  • Leaves: Roughly pinnate, dark green to reddish, deciduous
  • fruits: black
  • Soil: humus
  • Use: border plant
  • popular with bumblebees
  • offers good protection for birds
  • Insects lay their eggs in dead pithy stalks
  • Plant wild form that is native
  • is spreading strongly

Rowan (Sorbus aucuparia)

  • Height: 600 to 1200 cm
  • Annual growth: 30 to 70 cm
  • flowers: creamy white, umbrella panicles
  • Flowering period: May to June
  • Leaves: green, dull, pinnate, deciduous
  • Fruits: red-orange
  • Soil: fresh to moist
  • Use: solitary shrub, windbreak
  • Rowan only develops into a shrub if it is pruned regularly
  • only flowers from the fourth to fifth year
  • Berries an important food source for birds

Yew (Taxus baccata)

  • Height: 200 to 1000 cm
  • Annual growth: 20 to 30 cm
  • flowers: unremarkable
  • Flowering time: February to March
  • Leaves: dark green needles, evergreen
  • fruits: light red
  • Soil: permeable, undemanding
  • Use: Solitary shrub, hedge shrub, topiary
  • popular native hedge plant
  • cut compatible
  • Honeydew popular with various species of insects
  • Toxic to humans in all parts of the plant
  • reddish seed coat is eaten by blackbirds, for example

Buckthorn (Rhamnus frangula)

  • Height: 200 to 400 cm
  • Annual growth: 20 to 60 cm
  • Flowers: inconspicuous, white-yellow
  • Flowering period: May to June
  • Leaves: dark green, ovate, acuminate, deciduous
  • fruits: red to black
  • Soil: undemanding
  • Use: Solitary shrub, windbreak, conditionally suitable as a hedge shrub
  • very insect friendly
  • important source of food for a large number of caterpillars
  • toxic to humans

Tip: The buckthorn also gets along well with shady places. Since it does not always look very attractive due to the insects' food marks, it can also be planted in the second or third row in the garden, as it does well in the shade.

Common barberry (Berberis vulgaris)

  • Height: 100 to 250 cm
  • Annual growth: 20 to 50 cm
  • flowers: racemose, yellow
  • Flowering period: May to June
  • Leaves: green, reddish autumn color, deciduous
  • fruits: reddish, oblong
  • Soil: undemanding
  • Use: Solitary shrub, hedge shrub, facade greening

Notice: Cultivated forms of the barberry have hardly any added value for native bird and insect species.

Snowball (Viburnum opulus)

Viburnum opulus 'Roseum'
  • Height: 150 to 400 cm
  • Annual growth: 15 to 40 cm
  • flowers: umbrella-like, white
  • Flowering period: May to June
  • Leaves: Light green, three-lobed, orange-red in autumn, deciduous
  • Fruits: red
  • Soil: well-drained, loamy, humic, fresh, calcareous
  • Use: Solitary shrub, hedge shrub
  • Flowers attract insects such as bumblebees or hoverflies
  • red berries are food for birds in autumn

Notice: The snowball is for the snowball leaf beetle (Pyrrhalta viburni) particularly attractive because it provides a food source for both the caterpillars and the adult beetles.

Shrubs for birds and insects from H to P

Hazelnut (Corylus avellana)

  • Height: 500 to 700 cm
  • Annual growth: 40 to 90 cm
  • Flowers: female flowers reddish and inconspicuous, male yellow catkins
  • Flowering time: February to April
  • Leaves: green, deciduous
  • Fruits: brown nuts
  • Soil: undemanding
  • Use: solitary shrub, pioneer tree, landscape tree, windbreak
  • Nuts popular with jays
  • Hazelnut hedges provide breeding grounds for birds

Raspberry (Rubus idaeus)

  • Height: 120 to 160 cm
  • Annual growth: 40 to 120 cm
  • flowers: white
  • Flowering period: July to September
  • Leaves: green, deciduous
  • Fruits: pink, orange (cultivated forms)
  • Soil: normal garden soil
  • Use: solitary shrub, pioneer tree, landscape tree
  • popular with bumblebees
  • prefer to plant wild forms
  • tend to spread

Dog Rose (Rosa canina)

  • Height: 200 to 300 cm
  • Annual growth: 30 to 70 cm
  • flowers: simple, pink-white
  • Flowering period: June to July
  • Leaves: pinnate, green, occasionally with a bluish tinge, deciduous
  • fruits: red, oblong
  • Soil: rich in nutrients, permeable
  • Use: Solitary shrub, privacy screen
  • popular with the rose beetle
  • Rose hips are an important food source for blackbirds in winter

Notice: Birds also like to use the fruits of many other types of roses, such as burnet roses or potato roses, as a source of food. Compared to pure ornamental roses, these species are not weakened by fruiting.

Cornelian cherry (Cornus mas)

  • Height: 300 to 500 cm
  • Annual growth: 10 to 30 cm
  • flowers: umbel-like, yellow
  • Flowering time: March to April
  • Leaves: light green, oblong, deciduous
  • fruits: red, oblong
  • Soil: undemanding, prefers calcareous soil
  • Use: solitary shrub
  • most important food source in spring
  • red fruits are eaten by different species of birds such as blackbirds

Privet (Ligustrum vulgare)

  • Height: 200 to 500 cm
  • Annual growth: 20 to 120 cm
  • flowers: white, spike-shaped
  • Flowering period: June to July
  • Leaves: dark green, lanceolate, oblong, deciduous
  • Fruits: black berries
  • Soil: undemanding
  • Use: solitary shrub, hedge plant
  • Fruits poisonous to humans

Euonymus europaeus

  • Height: 300 to 400 cm
  • Annual growth: 15 to 35 cm
  • flowers: simple, yellow-green
  • Flowering period: May to June
  • Leaves: lanceolate, dull green, orange-red autumn color deciduous
  • Fruits: reddish shell, orange seeds
  • Soil: undemanding, permeable
  • Use: solitary shrub
  • preferred food source of robins
  • all parts of the plant are poisonous to humans
  • likes to multiply by self-sowing

Shrubs for birds and insects from R to W

European beech (Fagus sylvatica)

  • Height: 2000 to 3000 cm (also significantly lower as a hedge)
  • Annual growth: 20 to 50 cm
  • flowers: inconspicuous, green-pink
  • Flowering period: May to June
  • Leaves: green, orange autumn color, deciduous
  • Fruits: brown beechnuts
  • Soil: rich in nutrients, fresh to moist
  • Use: Solitary shrub, hedge shrub
  • very cut compatible
  • very bird-friendly and is highly valued by tits and sparrows
  • Beechnuts are an important food source for jays
  • up to 180 native species of mites and insects live in the common beech

Red Dogwood (Cornus sanguinea)

  • Height: 300 to 400 cm
  • Annual growth: 20 to 40 cm
  • flowers: white, umbrella-shaped
  • Flowering period: May to June
  • Leaves: Green, ovate, tapering, deciduous
  • fruits: black
  • Soil: fresh, humic
  • Use: Pioneer shrub, landscape shrub, solitary shrub
  • very bird friendly
  • Flower very popular with many different types of insects

Sloe (Prunus spinosa)

  • Height: 150 to 400 cm
  • Annual growth: 10 to 30 cm
  • Flowers: single flowers, white
  • Flowering time: April to May
  • Leaves: green, oval, deciduous
  • fruits: dark blue to black
  • Soil: fresh, nutritious, undemanding
  • Use: solitary shrub, windbreak
  • Thorns provide birds with a safe haven from predators
  • valuable food source for insect species
  • provides birds with food, especially in winter

Notice: The red-backed shrike (Lanius collurio) benefits from the sloe as a habitat because it hunts for supplies when bad weather is approaching. It impales its prey, which includes larger insects and smaller vertebrates, on the thorns of the blackthorn until it is needed.

Black elder (Sambucus nigra)

  • Height: 200 to 500 cm
  • Annual growth: 20 to 25 cm
  • flowers: umbel-like, white
  • Flowering period: May to June
  • Leaves: green, lobed margin, deciduous
  • Fruits: dark red
  • Soil: undemanding, preferably nutrient-rich and calcareous
  • Use: solitary shrub, windbreak
  • indispensable bird and insect friendly native tree
  • regular pruning necessary
  • black berries very popular with many bird species

Notice: There is also the red elder, which is native. However, it can only be cultivated to a limited extent as a shrub and develops better as a tree.

Juniper (Juniperus communis)

  • Height: 250 to 400 cm
  • Annual growth: 7 to 20 cm
  • flowers: inconspicuous
  • Flowering time: April to May
  • Leaves: prickly needles, blue-green shimmer
  • fruits: black
  • Soil: undemanding
  • Use: solitary shrub
  • Shrubs grow very slowly
  • The berries ripen for two years
  • Cultivated forms and related species have little added value for birds and insects

Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna)

  • Height: 300 to 1000 cm
  • Annual growth: 50 to 70 cm
  • flowers: umbel-like, white
  • Flowering period: June to July
  • Leaves: dark green, pinnate
  • fruits: black
  • Soil: rich in nutrients, slightly moist
  • Use: Solitary shrub, hedge shrub, windbreak
  • Food plant for the caterpillars of the Swallowtail Butterfly (Iphiclides podalirius)
  • Thrushes eat the red fruits

frequently asked Questions

Are wild cherry and apple trees also suitable for insects and birds?

Yes, wild apple and cherry trees provide an important food source and habitat for insects and birds. With regular pruning, they can also be cultivated as a semi-shrub.

Can I encourage all insects and birds with some shrubs?

Many insect species are highly specialized and require specific types of plants, as do some birds. You can also promote certain species by specifically selecting shrubs that are native.

Can I combine different shrubs with each other?

Yes, it is even an advantage if you combine different trees with each other, because this promotes diversity. When choosing shrubs, make sure that they have a similar growth pattern. This reduces the maintenance effort and you can, for example, cut back all the shrubs at the same time.

Category:

Garden plants