Not So Good For Wildlife

Last weekend's workshop at my local nature preserve emphasized the planting of wildflowers, shrubs, and trees that have food value for native wildlife. They did not give much attention to particulars, but the staff did note that there are decorative plants that have nearly no food value. Such are these hedge shrubs we inherited when purchasing our home. Pretty, yes. Durable, yes. I don't even know what they are. But what I do know is that the birds avoid these attractive berries. They stay out all winter with nary a taker. A lot of this stuff is sold at local nurseries and it's a darn shame as they're exotics that just take up space. I'm fortunate that I have a good amount of food value on the property and am adding to it, but many homes have this sort of thing only. And yes, I am giving thought to taking these nasty things out and replacing them with some wax myrtle. That can be used by our aviam buddies!