Best way to 'Brush up'

[bleeding green]

Hi, just wondering what the best tree or shrub species is to use to give finches somewhere is nest/roost. I am going to throw some in my aviary on the weekend and want something that will stay green for as long as possible and obviously not poisonious.
Thanks.

[finchbreeder]

I use tea-tree it does not stay green but neither does it drop leaves. Have also tried wattle but after a while you wind up with leaves all over the floor of the avairy. Mixing the two is not bad. And the quail like the wattle leaves for nesting.
LML

[Diane]

I use woolly bush its very soft and stays green for quite a while and most of the leaves stay on the branches even when they have gone brown.

[jusdeb]

Whatever is flowering ( native ) but mostly tee tree , wattle is way to messy , Grevileas seem to hold the flowers best . Fruit trees probly stick with apple / orange / lemon / pears etc nothing fancy.

[bleeding green]

Thanks for the replies.
Is it safe to use any natives? There are some across from me which at this time of year are blooming with yellow flowers and lime green leaves, but I have no idea what they are called. Last thing I want to do is poison the birds.

[Diane]

Do they look like this?

yellow flowers 003.jpg

I have one of these bushes in the garden. Label says it attracts nectar feeding birds and we do get loads of black and white birds with a yellow flash of the wings. I have used them but I think they have a really strong smell, I prefer to use them laid on the side stacked up, sort of a wind break.

[Jayburd]

I have one of these bushes in the garden. Label says it attracts nectar feeding birds and we do get loads of black and white birds with a yellow flash of the wings. I have used them but I think they have a really strong smell, I prefer to use them laid on the side stacked up, sort of a wind break.

Those would be New Holland Honeyeaters.

[bleeding green]

Do they look like this?

yellow flowers 003.jpg

I have one of these bushes in the garden. Label says it attracts nectar feeding birds and we do get loads of black and white birds with a yellow flash of the wings. I have used them but I think they have a really strong smell, I prefer to use them laid on the side stacked up, sort of a wind break.

Not exactly. The flowers appear to be more like a brush. They have a smell but it's not that strong. See the photo.

27082010006.jpg

I also have Brush Cherry Trees. They produce a cherry type of fruit. They don't have any cherries at the moment but they do dry out quite quickly. See photo 2.

27082010007.jpg

Or I could use conifers. What do you think is best?

[Fischer]

Hi Bleeding green, here's my 2 bob's worth

With cut brush in your aviaries for finches to shelter and nest in what you want is for the leaves to last as long as possible before dropping you need a dense foliage plant and yes just about all the natives are non toxic

1st pic is a Wattle, I think they would loose their leaves fairly quickly once cut and the branches are a bit sparse for the building of nests, but if you have nothing else it's ok, as a live aviary plant just be aware that they are very fast growing and can get to 4m or so, it's a non toxic native

2nd pic is a Lilli Pilli, fine plant for an aviary, very dense and bushy, but as cut brush, same as above I would think, loose their leaves quickly, a native and non toxic

Conifers are probably the best pick here, the dense ones like Pencil Pines or hedging type conifers, I have used these myself and they hold their leaves-needles for a reasonable time and make good shelter-nesting areas. Just today I was eying off a couple of largish branches of a neighbors pencil pine hanging over my side of the fence...I think I'll do him a favor and prune it

[spanna]

hands down best brush to use is melalueca (tea tree). dense, lots of nice forks in the branches, doesnt drop its leaves when it is cut and easily lasts a whole year in the aviaries. just make sure you dont take any from a reserve or park. big fines!