How to Attract Humming birds in los Angeles

It's hard to say how much is spent every year on bird feeders, or fertilizers for lawns but an estimated 40% of residential water usage every year in Southern California goes to water lawns and landscapes. Often these areas are heavily fertilized and the run off usually goes into concrete culvers for treatment in tax subsidized water treatment plants. 20 % of the energy consumed in California goes for the transport, treatment or distribution of drinkable water.
Meanwhile, the natural life we claim to love and respect must look elsewhere for its nutrition. Here then is my suggestion on how to attract wild life and conserve water.


 To attract hummingbirds; first get rid of your grass. Plant succulents and flower bearing annuals native to the region. The flowers of these native plants will please our eyes and they will attract wildlife. Bark, mulch and stone make up the balance of the landscape.

I know, this concept is uncomfortable but imagine paying less for water and having an award winning yard...

Grass is not just unwise, it is bad for the environment.

 Once drought tolerant plants are established and healthy you really need no more than rain water to keep them beautiful. A irrigation system incorporating rain and city water can be turn key. These landscapes will support the natural ecosystem by providing bees with pollen and hummingbirds with natural organic nectar. They are also beautiful.

A further step is to eliminate oil based black top or concrete driveways and replace with permeable surfaces that absorb water and  divert the excess to infiltration basins in planted terraces;

Downspouts should be positioned near a drain that feeds lower flower boxes or planters. This downspout feeds the flowers near it and when that planter is full it feeds a drain that collects water from the walkway and to a lower planter; the downspout about and the enclosed planter here;

An attractive addition to this water garden is a wine barrel from a Temecula winery;

I hand made the bronze fluer-dis-lis brackets and preparred the wine barrel by adding the inlet, a spigot, a overflow and the plug in pump, visible at the base.


Please consider watching this video about the ignorant way we manage our resources and see my website at www.abraingutters.com

Photos of the above project can be found here; 

The Cycle of Insanity: The Real Story of Water from Surfrider Foundation on Vimeo.