How To Prevent Birds From Tearing Apart Your Garden
There’s nothing more annoying than when you’re growing your garden, and birds and other pests ruin all your hard work.
Usually, it’s because they are foraging. But your garden doesn’t have to suffer for it. You could get some bird feeders in to keep them busy and give them what they want, almost like bribing, but there are other methods.
Classic Scarecrows
The most common, and probably first method in history, way to try and keep birds away from gardens, has been to build a scarecrow.
It was a simple idea. You make a mannequin in the shape of a human in the attempt that birds and other potential garden-stompers will want to stay away from.
The main issue with scarecrows, is that animals are smarter than you think. Eventually, they will notice that the scarecrow hasn’t moved since they arrived.
The trick with scarecrows, is to change up their look and location from time to time. Perhaps throw on some brighter colours, and pose them differently from across the garden. There are lots of ways to design your scarecrow, so have fun with it.
High Quality Netting
One of the most effective methods of keeping birds away from your seeds, plants and vegetation, is to invest in netting.
There are a few options available to you, one of the classic ways was to surround your crops in ‘chicken wire’. However, not only is that impractical but also, it’s quite unaesthetically pleasing.
Consider using lightweight polythene inhibited netting. This netting is incredibly thin, meaning nothing can get through to it, from larger animals such as birds to tiny insects.
There are different types of polythene nets, you can get a standard, cover all, net. Or, you could get a ‘fleece’. This is more used to cover certain sections of your garden, and allows water and air to get through. They can be used for all seasons, in the winter they keep your plants warm due to thermal protection, and in the summer, they keep away flying pests.
To browse through various options, have a look at Little Fields Farm, you can buy garden netting straight through them. They allow you to choose the measurements you need, and you can also see the different types ands styles to suit your garden.
Fake Predators
Similar to the purpose of a scarecrow, using plastic predators such as decoy owls, falcons of even snakes can serve a good purpose.
Usually, smaller birds such as pigeons and sparrows, will get used to a scarecrow and not be intimidated by one. But you’d be surprised to hear that when it comes to fake owls, they do a very good job of scaring them away.
It’s recommended that you move the fake predator around from time to time, to locations that look like it’s in different stake-out spots. You can even get plastic predators that emit sound and move, this will have a greater success rate.
The same can be said for devices in general, you could get spinning devices or reflective mirrors to dazzle and distract invading birds.