I've never seen as much effect on wildlife due to plant selection as I have with garden practices. Most any flowering plant attracts nectar/pollen collectors, but beyond that... Leaving leaf litter/seed pods under trees creates a habitat for bugs, from bacteria on up to the larger bugs which birds and lizards eat. Basically composting in place and the birds turn the compost for you. Adding water like Toucan said, but water features specifically for wildlife. Like a shallow pan for bird bathing in addition to drinking. That will also provide water for other creatures. Birds don't like cover near the water where cats can hide but they do like branches nearby where they can stage and check for predators before moving to the water. And also water in the landscape. Some higher water plants means moist ground, more insects, more food for wildlife. True desert landscapes don't generate a like of life compared to when water is added. Rocks/rock piles for lizards, crickets and other bugs. Add some wood in there and some plants on top with added water and you have a good insect producer. Shade I think increases insect production and therefore wildlife. These things are more a all year. more wildlife type thing. A plant that generates berries for example provide a really short window of food for wildlife while habitat is an all year type thing.

Jen, thanks for the links. I've got GNPS bookmarked, but unfortunately, just about everything they do is based in Atlanta and I'm about two hours away from Atlanta. I will try emailing them, though, and ask if they've considered expanding some of their plant sales and plant "rescues" state-wide. :) The landscaping for birds link was very helpful, thanks! Von, I'm in the suburbs. I've got a large yard, as suburbs go, but it's nothing that would support more than four or five large trees, and it's already got three large pine trees, and a pear tree and a peach tree that were here when I moved in. I'd really like to add some kind of large hardwood, but there's just not enough room for a canopy size tree. My next choice is the understory trees/large shrubs, so in that line, I've got a shrub dogwood, a chokecherry, a hackberry, a mulberry, two young pawpaws and I'm trying to find a good serviceberry to add. I want a species or cultivar of serviceberry that won't get more than about 20 feet high at most and that won't require much care as far as keeping it disease free. I might be able to add a small cherry tree, too, but that would be about the limit of trees I could fit in the yard. I already have two viburnums and three more on the way in the spring. I've tried to grow two elderberries and they both died; I don't know what the problem is, but I'm not going to try elderberries again, at least not for a few years. I'm adding a couple of blueberry bushes and some muscadine grape vines very soon, and I've got an eastern ninebark coming in next month. The only other shrubs I have are lantana (the birds keep planting more), turk's cap, beautyberry, a huge gardenia, Joe-pye weed, butterfly bush, some bush hibiscus, a Clerondendrum, and some roses that were here when I moved in. I don't particularly care for roses, but these have been mostly behaving themselves and providing the occasional rose hip for the birds, so I've left them alone. I'm planning to take the butterfly bush out this year (since I recently learned it's considered a minor invasive in GA) and replace it with some kind of native similar in wildlife benefit. I'm looking for ideas of what types of birds (and other animals) like what types of plants, so I can have a good variety in my yard. I do have a little more room for planting perennials and vines, since I can fit more of those in together, and I've got some seed producing perennials and nectar producing perennials and vines already. I'm planning to add more natives this year and get rid of some of the non-natives that were here when I moved in two years ago. When I moved in, the yard was practically useless to most wildlife, nothing but lawn, roses, boxwoods, and the pine trees and pear & peach trees; most of the species of animals that were here were invasive pests. There were only a few species of birds in the yard on a regular basis and about half of those were exotic pests. I've been slowly changing out the pest plants for natives, and hoping the animals will follow suit in time. It was quite a change from my previous house, which had over 40 species of birds, several species of reptiles & amphibians, dozens and dozens of insects & spiders, and about a dozen mammal species on a regular basis. That yard was even smaller than my current one, but it was a much more natural setting and it had been long established. I hope this yard will build up to that level over time.

Aside from feeders and water, mixed plantings will attract a wide variety of birds. My lot has numerous canopy trees, understory vegetation and shrubs, some open areas, and some dense evergreens and thickets of things like Crabapples for cover and berries. And several gardens with a mix of many native perennials and grasses, and annuals that make seeds and harbor insects for the birds. As previous posters stated, attracting insects is important because 90% of terrestrial birds raise their young almost exclusively on insects, such as the larvae of moths and butterflies. The best way to nurture a healthy population of insects is to plant woody plants that are native to your region. Although most people don't think it looks tidy, and are usually compulsive about cleaning up dead wood, it's very attractive to all cavity nesters to leave a dead tree or two standing and even dead branches, if they are safely located and won't drop on the house or deck or anything. Birds also love to perch on dead lower branches in trees. My back yard is much more naturalized than the front and I've left about 10 or so dead pine tree snags standing back there, some of which are old enough to have multiple woodpecker holes. This year there are White-breasted Nuthatches and Eastern Bluebirds nesting in the dead snags that I've noticed so far! :)

Don't know if you have a bear problem. I have property bordered by a large state park that I visit every other weekend. Can't have feeders up when I'm gone, so habitat restoration is an issue. Am sticking to planting trees and necter plants with high wildlife value. There are no starlings, house sparrows or house wrens so cavity nesters are plentiful. Check with your state DNR. State your objective (wildlife preservation) and you will get the local info you need as well as what to plant. You may even have a program in your state to allow you to put your property in a stewardship program in order to get a tax break. The big thing is selective thinning of forest to encourage understory plants. Linda