Non-toxic ways to keep birds out of the vegetable garden without hurting them. Includes various netting, decoys, and scares, and tips on keeping them effective. Birds are a welcome addition to the garden, but if the crows are devouring your corn and the jays are eating your berries, here are a few ways to keep birds away from your garden.
Ways to Keep Birds Out of the Vegetable Garden:
Use Garden Netting to Keep Birds Out
Creating barriers using garden netting is probably the most effective way to keep birds out. I use a variety of hoops in my garden and then pull butterfly netting over them. Butterfly netting protects crops from hungry wildlife but beneficial insects like honeybees can still get through to pollinate.
Being careful and aware whilst using netting is very important. I keep mine pulled taunt since loose netting is just asking for animals to get caught in it. Standard bird netting (with holes over 1cm) can be the most dangerous to wildlife. That’s the type that they can get caught up since they can more easily get a snout, head, beak, or leg through it.
Using Chicken Wire Over the Ground
Chicken wire pinned to the ground can help protect newly sown seeds or planted tubers. It stops birds, including your own chickens, from scratching up the soil. As plants grow, you could lift the wire up on stakes or even bend it around hoops.
Protect Crops with Garden Fleece
Many of us use garden fleece to protect crops from frosts. It can also be used year-round to protect shorter crops from birds. Garden fleece is a fine white material that can be draped over pak choi, lettuces, chard, and other greens. Weigh the sides down with rocks or pegs and either reach under or roll it back temporarily to harvest.
Build a Scarecrow
Scarecrows do work if they’re moved around regularly. Keep that in mind whether you’re buying one or making your own. opt for one built on a stake that can be pulled up and pushed into the ground in another part of the garden. It also helps to clothe or decorate them with the colors red and yellow. Some say that birds use these colors as flight triggers. Whether or not it’s scientifically proven, it wouldn’t hurt to have a Ronald McDonald in the garden. Unless you personally have a problem with clowns or garish garden decorations.
Garden Spinners can Scare Birds Away Too
Any sudden movement will scare birds into flight as well. That’s why so many people use streamers, plastic bags, and garden spinners to keep birds out of the garden. Anything plastic that can be blown away in the wind can end up as litter so I won’t recommend the first two. Sturdy garden spinners, on the other hand, can look cute and serve a purpose. Again, make sure to move them around the garden every week or so.