Hummingbird Garden: How To Make Your Backyard A Hangout

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Let me ask… Would you like to have a hummingbird garden? Do you love to watch hummingbirds feeding in a frenzy? Would you like to learn How To attract more of them to your garden?

Find out how you can make your backyard become a hummingbird hangout.

Start With A Hummingbird Garden Plan

In order to attract hummingbirds to your backyard you need to offer them some hummingbird hospitality.

Just like a good hotel, hummingbirds want good food and drink along with a comfortable place to sleep.



What that looks like for hummingbirds, is preparing a sugar solution, they can enjoy from a well-designed feeder. The food, drink and a place to sleep are all wrapped into one.

These flying jewels may be small but their little wings have them traveling about 6,000 miles per year. Also, those busy wings cause their hearts to beat up to 1,000 times per minute.

After all that work hummingbirds need a place to rest and snooze. And… Hummingbird feeders make the perfect place to perch, rest and snooze.

Here’s a fun video of a hummingbird snoring!

Attrcating hummingbirds is pretty simple. Take your sugar solution (recipe below) fill your feeders up with the homemade nectar and put them out in your garden. The hummingbirds will find your garden and come at their feeding times.

How To Make A Sugar Solution For Hummingbird Feeding

Making the sugar solution for your feeders is pretty simple. However, it needs to be done the right way so the hummingbirds are not harmed and stay healthy.

Hummingbirds feed on flower nectar when out in their natural surroundings. Since we don’t always have flowers we need to provide them with an “artificial nectar”.

What you will be making when preparing the sugar solution is an ingredient which has the same chemical composition just like flower nectar.

Flower nectar is made up of 20% fructose and the rest is water.

Where can you find 100% sucrose? Look right at the white table sugar in your pantry!

In order to make something similar to what hummingbirds eat. You need to reduce the fructose concentration in the sugar to about 20% or 20% sugar and 80% water. A 1 to 4 ratio.

The Feeder Recipe

  • 1 Cup of sugar
  • 4 Cups of water

Mix the sugar and water together and bring to a boil

Allow it cool to room temperature before adding the feeders.

Important Do’s and Don’ts For Your Hummingbird Nectar!

  • It’s important to bring the solution to a boil. This eliminates any bacteria!
  • Use the purest water available
  • Select a brand of granular white sugar that has NO Preservatives or additives
  • DO NOT substitute honey, brown sugar or any other kind of sugar or sweetener.
  • This is critical. The mold in honey can kill Hummingbirds
  • DO NOT add red dye to your sugar solution.

Hummingbirds are attracted to the color red. The job of your feeder is to attract them… along with the sugar solution. Plus the red dye can harm their system.

How To Care For Hummingbird Feeders

Hummingbirds love to eat! They eat up to twice their body weight and feed 5-8 times per hour.

  • In general, change the feeding solution every two or three days.
  • During hot weather or spells, the “hummingbird nectar” will spoil. The solution in the feeders may need to be changed daily.
  • Rinse feeders thoroughly every time before adding any sugar solution.
  • Once per week clean the feeders with a bottle brush and soapy water.
  • After filling your feeders, the remaining unused sugar solution can be refrigerated and last about a week. However, it’s best to use it as soon as possible.

Creating a Hummingbird Garden and Habitat

Hummingbirds are tiny and therefore their systems are tiny as well. In your garden where your hummers will be gathering, avoid the use of pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides.

The toxic substances cause havoc on their tiny livers and kidneys. Keep the environment as clean and chemical free as possible.

What Plants Attract Hummingbirds?

The little flying patrons have some favorite fine nectar-bearing plants:

…to name a few

Your backyard hummingbirds will appreciate the blooms and enhanced ambience they provide.

Add some feeders, make your sugar solution, plant some nectar-bearing favorites and you’ll soon have a Hummingbird hangout!

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