We were so excited when we discovered this robin’s nest in one of our living walls when we made a routine maintenance visit.  Of course, living walls attract birds for many reasons, but seeing a nest inside it made our day.  We’d like to share the reasons why birds love a vertical garden even more than a normal horizontal one!

Why are birds attracted?

Studies have shown that green walls are a particularly good way for city dwellers to create wildlife-friendly spaces.  For example, in The Animal Biodiversity of Green Walls in the Urban Environment, Caroline Chiquet found some interesting facts.

Firstly, the number of birds attracted to living walls in towns and cities was significantly larger than to bare walls.  That in itself is unsurprising.  However, Chiquet also found that the living walls created a focal point that attracted more birds to the local vicinity in general.  She and her team observed that different bird species use the green walls for different purposes.  For example, wrens, blackbirds, thrushes and sparrows nest within them.  We can add robins to that list!!  Also, many species forage for food on them.  Still others use them a refuge where they can perch to rest.  All in all, it seems that living walls are extremely important for city birds.

Chiquet’s final conclusion reads:

“This study … has demonstrated that vertical building surfaces colonised by climbing vegetation are used by birds in the urban environment. Without requiring additional land take or sophisticated and expensive modification to buildings, such structures may be important for promoting the conservation of species declining in abundance […]. The trend to higher building densities in urban areas is likely to result in lower urban bird densities (Evans et al. 2009); green walls may be one method of mitigating the negative impacts of such developments on forage, cover and nesting opportunities.”

So, if you love birds and want to help halt their decline, isn’t it time you installed a living wall?  If you’d like to know more about it, get in touch with Calum on 01727 811448 and he can discuss what options are possible in your location.