How to Plant a Garden for Birds and Pollinators | Ask This Old House

Jenn Nawada, landscape designer for Ask This Old House, helps a homeowner turn her front yard into a garden that will attract birds and pollinators in Washington, D.C. (See below for the plant shopping list, tools, and steps.) SUBSCRIBE to This Old House: http://bit.ly/SubscribeThisOldHouse Tools List for How to Plant a Garden for Birds and Pollinators: - Digging shovel - Transfer shovel - Spade - Rake Shopping List for How to Plant a Garden for Birds and Pollinators: - Depending on your zone, you can make your own choices. Shopping List for Perennials: - Agastache Rosie Posie (anise hyssop) - Amsonia hubrectii (blue star) - Asclepias tuberosa Hello Yellow (butterfly weed) - Baptisia Indigo Spires (false indigo) - Chelone Hot Lips (turtlehead) - Dryopteris x australis (Dixie wood fern) - Echinacea PowWow Wild Berry (coneflower) - Eupatorium Little Joe (Joe Pye weed) - Helianthus Sunshine Daydream (many-flowered sunflower) - Liatris Kobold (blazing star) - Penstemon Dark Towers (beardtongue) - Phlox paniculata David (garden phlox) - Phlox paniculata Laura (garden phlox) - Phlox paniculata Nicky (garden phlox) - Stokesia Peachie s Pick (Stoke s aster)   Shopping List for Grasses: - Panicum virgatum Cape Breeze (switch grass) - Panicum virgatum Heavy Metal (switch grass)   Shopping List for Shrubs: - Fothergilla gardenii (dwarf fothergilla) - Hydrangea quercifolia Alice (oakleaf hydrangea) - Ilex glabra Shamrock (inkberry holly) - Itea virginica Henry s Garnet (Virginia sweetspire) - Lindera benzoin (spice bush) Steps for How to Plant a Garden for Birds and Pollinators: 1. Clear the area where you d like to plant the garden, perform a soil test, and amend soil as necessary. 2. Choose plants and lay them out in a design you like before you start digging. 3. Be sure to call a local gas utility before you dig to ensure you don t hit an underground gas line. 4. Using a digging shovel, dig holes almost as deep as the container for each plant and a little bit wider. 5. Take the plant out of the container and tease out the root ball. 6. Place each plant in its hole and fill it with a mixture of planting soil and leftover existing soil. 7. Spread out mulch around plants about 2 to 3 inches thick, keeping it away from the base of the plant so as not to smother it. 8. Give the newly planted garden a long soak of water and check it once a day to see if it needs more water. About Ask This Old House TV: Homeowners have a virtual truckload of questions for us on smaller projects, and we re ready to answer. Ask This Old House solves the steady stream of home improvement problems faced by our viewers—and we make house calls! Ask This Old House features some familiar faces from This Old House, including Kevin O Connor, general contractor Tom Silva, plumbing and heating expert Richard Trethewey, and landscape contractor Roger Cook. Follow This Old House and Ask This Old House: Facebook: http://bit.ly/ThisOldHouseFB Twitter: http://bit.ly/ThisOldHouseTwitter http://bit.ly/AskTOHTwitter Pinterest: http://bit.ly/ThisOldHousePinterest Instagram: http://bit.ly/ThisOldHouseIG http://bit.ly/AskTOHIG Tumblr: http://bit.ly/ThisOldHouseTumblr For more on This Old House and Ask This Old House, visit us at: http://bit.ly/ThisOldHouseWebsite How to Plant a Garden for Birds and Pollinators | Ask This Old House https://www.youtube.com/user/thisoldhouse/