Birds have been celebrated in Egyptian hieroglyphs, medieval tapestries, and countless paintings and poems through the ages, symbolizing freedom and joy, and bringing song and color to our lives. Creating a bird-friendly garden is the making of a sanctuary for birds and people. Adams’ how-to involves the use of native plants as the central structure both for building a cozy bird-welcoming ecosystem and aiding the preservation of North America’s distinctive natural heritage. He provides steps for planning, which include providing food, shelter, water, and nesting sites and planting wildflowers. His coverage includes information on gardening regions, soil pH, fertility, and drainage, and preparing the soil, choosing native plants, developing a landscape plan, working with small spaces (including urban terraces), and more. Adams also provides both a plant and bird directory. Full-color photos and drawings throughout complement the text, and appendix materials include a metric conversion chart, lists of resources, recommended reading, and an index, making for an engaging and inspiring comprehensive guide. --Whitney Scott
“Helpfully detailed and brightly illustrated information about horticulture and garden design strategies…this book will draw birders to gardening; gardeners to birding; and non-gardeners and non-birders to both. The charts are easy to read and the information about birds and bushes is accessibly organized, offering a sublime adventure for the average gardener.”
(
Publishers Weekly)
“Adams’ how-to involves the use of native plants as the central structure both for building a cozy bird-welcoming ecosystem and aiding the preservation of North America’s distinctive natural heritage. He provides steps for planning, which include providing food, shelter, water, and nesting sites and planting wildflowers. .. an engaging and inspiring comprehensive guide.”
(
Booklist)
“If you’re looking for a little help getting from point A to point B, you’ll want to check out this book… a terrific resource, with hundreds of plant recommendations organized nicely by region."
(
Birds & Blooms)
“If you own only one book about attracting birds – Gardening for the Birds has all the useful information you will need to create your own bird sanctuary in your own garden.”
(Noelle Johnson
Birds & Blooms Blog)
“Gardening for the Birds by George Adams is a primer for anyone interested in creating bird friendly habitat in their suburban yard. It is clear and helpful, with numerous photographs of birds, and the plants they need to support nesting and feeding. The emphasis is on native plants that attract and sustain our avian friends. This is for any reader who would like to attract a goldfinch flock without having to spend a small fortune on niger seed.”
(Ruth Freeman
Norwalk Citizen)
“With the guidance of Mr. Adams you can ‘get your creative on’ and have fun developing an inviting garden for yourself and for our feathered companions.”
(
The Succulent Perch)
"A book that provides a primer for anyone who is interested in creating a bird-friendly habitat in their yard. It should find a place on the bookshelves of gardeners and birders alike. And, yes, they are quite often the same people."
(
Gardening with Nature)
"I would go so far as to say that everyone interested in wildlife gardening should have this book! I have not seen a more thorough treatment of the subject by anyone for the home gardener, and the presentation is a quite a treat as well.'
(
A Charlotte Garden)
Whether you’re a gardener who’s new to birding or a birder who’s new to gardening, I think you’ll find Gardening for the Birds a valuable resource and one of those go-to book on your gardening, or is it birding, bookshelf.
(Debbie Roberts
NativePlantWildlifeGarden.com)
"This book is chock full of information on attracting not only birds in general, but also butterflies and hummingbirds into your yard.”
(
The Fresno Bee)
“If you'd like to create welcoming habitat for the birds most likely to occur in your area, this is the ultimate guide to help you make the best plant selections for doing so.”
(Carol Sevilla Brown
The American Gardener)
“This book is for the birds—in a good way!”
(
The Virginian-Pilot)
“This is a very good book about gardening for birds… a fine choice if you’re at all interested in attracting birds by gardening for them.”
(Kelly Brenner
The Metropolitan Field Guide)
“George Adams’ new book, Gardening for the Birds: How to Create a Bird-Friendly Backyard, has over 400 pages of tips, plant lists, regional gardening help, bird directory and a plant directory.”
(Molly Day
The Muskogee Phoenix)
“Adams has written one heck of a good book, organized very smartly for those who might have just a casual interest in birds, and for those who want to create a habitat to attract specific species.”
(Todd Heft
Big Blog of Gardening)
“Adams has written this informative guide to help make even the simplest backyard more hospitable to birds.”
(
Country Gardens)
“A beautiful and comprehensive guide… packed with hundreds of color photos of American birds--fiery cardinals, tawny sparrows, blazing bluebirds--and the vast array of attractive plants they prefer for feeding and nesting.”
(
The Chicago Tribune)