How to attract birds to your yard all year

Watching birds at our bird feeders this winter has been so much fun. We have feeders spaced out along the side and back of the house, which seems to improve the viewing experience.

This is a good time to plan to enhance your garden with plants that will attract birds all year long. It takes more than feeders, bird houses and a bird bath along with some flowers for a truly bird-friendly garden.

Birds need a complete habitat that includes food, shelter, nesting areas and perching spots. A good bird garden tends to have more of a natural look. Use natural areas that have different vertical levels, each attracting and providing something to different bird species as a guide for your garden.

Some birds prefer the canopy of tall trees, while other birds perch in understory trees and shrubs. Different species of birds have varying requirements and preferences for nesting, eating and shelter. Try to create as many of these levels as possible in your own bird refuge to attract a larger variety of birds. Even open areas of soil can be beneficial by providing an area for birds to take a dust bath.

Apartment dwellers can also invite birds to visit. Balconies that have welcoming plants might also benefit from bird feeders. If there are trees or other vegetation at ground level, migrating birds may already be nearby. Small feeders that attach by suction cups to windows offer more opportunities for bird-watching.

Select plants to provide food for birds at different times of year. Fruits of different plants ripen in different seasons. For example, serviceberries provide spring-ripening fruit, red-twig dogwoods provide fruit in summer, and hawthorns and crabapples provide fruit in fall and winter. I planted some serviceberries to replace invasive Callery pear trees (which also have no value for birds) in my backyard last year.

Perennials such as purple coneflower and grasses such as a prairie dropseed provide seed for a food source. Sunflowers are quick-growing annual flowers that produce seeds that are attractive to birds. Nectar-producing plants such as penstemon, Mexican bush sage, and columbine are attractive to hummingbirds.

Include a mix of evergreens in your planting to provide year-round shelter for birds. A group of evergreen hemlocks growing near a couple of our feeders are a popular spot for birds to shelter while using the feeders. When aesthetically possible, leave some dead branches on living trees to provide zones for the birds to perch. Do prune any dead branches that are safety hazards.

If you feed birds in your garden, be sure to prevent dogs from eating fallen birdseed. Our two dachshunds routinely eat birdseed on the ground, so they need monitoring. Most dogs can pass small amounts of ingested birdseed but they might also eat bird droppings that are mixed in, and the droppings may contain salmonella bacteria. Salmonella can cause severe digestive upset with lots of vomiting and diarrhea that can be fatal in very young or old dogs. We had diarrhea issues with our dogs a couple of times over the last few years that were likely from them eating too much birdseed. We continue to feed birds and monitor the dogs. The salmonella bacteria can also be passed on to people.

• Tim Johnson is director of horticulture at Chicago Botanic Garden, chicagobotanic.org.