ideas for landscaping

I am looking to put a little "patch" of something in my yard. Maybe an area of bird houses, feeders, a bath, a little rock thing or flowers or something. Nothing too elaborate or requiring daily upkeep and weeding, but a little something to attract birds and be pleasant to the eye.
I have an area not very far from my house and business and in front of a little creek that cardinals seem to hang out around anyway. It seems like a good spot, but I know nothing about landscaping.

Is there a site with ideas that would be suited for my climate and what I hope to achieve? I am looking to dress up the area around my house and business and would like to add something, I just don't know what or how to go about starting something without wasting my efforts.

Thanks for any ideas or reference points.

Find out what the local birds eat and provide it.

Egon

Yes, that's exactly what I intend to do. It's just that I don't want to "stick a birdfeeder in the yard", I want to incorporate a few of them and possibly houses, if they can be somewhat close together and still get used, in a design of sorts.
It's easy for me to drive by someone's house and notice a nicely landscaped area. It's hard for me to incorporate a design into my particular setting.

I did read something today that suggested not mowing the area, tilling it a little and throwing a handful of wild flower seeds on it to start things for a natural setting of flowers and high grasses, but they had no pictures of the final product.
I was hoping someone here had a knack for such things or a website with ideas.

Go to www.sunset.com and look at the books they have. They started out as a Western states magazine, but now have publications covering all of the US. They have TONS of great info.

Look for a local landscape designer. They should know the plants that would work in your area. They can also recommend colors, plant heights, size, ect.

Add a pond! Even a little 8x10 pond with a little waterfall will atract all kinds of wildlife www.aquascapedesigns.com

Interesting site, Robert. Thanks. I have some ideas already on just a quick looksee.

Another option for you Fred is to head on down to your local landscape nursery. Don't bother with the big box stores, find a locally owned/operated place. Grab a cup of coffee and just have a chat with someone there. Once they understand what you're looking for they'll have all sorts of ideas for you and best of all they'll know exactly what will work in your area and what won't. They will probably have some displays set up which can provide great inspiration as well [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]