Some birds are particularly attracted to vegetable plants where the fruit trees so much so that gardeners are forced to find solutions to scare them away in order to save their crops. It’s understandable, of course, but you shouldn’t do anything all the same because many birds are very useful in the garden, which they rid of harmful insects. Let’s see what are the best ways to protect your vegetable garden and fruit trees against birds, but always in a peaceful way.
Plant a shrub hedge to protect the vegetable garden and orchard from birds
Birds are very greedy berries of all kinds and are fond of hedges. These offer them food while allowing them to shelter their nests. Attracted by these plantsthey tend not to rush into fruit trees or the vegetable garden with as much vigor anymore.
This allows the gardener to preserve his fruits, seeds and vegetables without definitively driving the birds out of the garden because let’s face it, not hearing their melodious song would be a real shame. And let’s not forget that birds rid us of thousands of insects and other unwanted critters. We therefore have every interest in attracting them and finding solutions to protect our crops. Here are some shrubs to choose from.
The mountain ash (A sip of acuparÃa)
It is also called mountain ash. In any case, here is one that lives up to its name. Birds love it because it provides them with orange-red berries, rowanberries, which they feed on in winter. Thrushes are the most greedy birds of rowans.
Smooth Hawthorn (Crataegus laevigata)
It is sometimes found under the name ofthorny hawthorn and even oftwo-style hawthorn. In addition to dispersing its seed in nature, thus allowing this shrub to multiply, they also revel in its cenelles, small fruits similar to red peas. This leaves a little respite for strawberries and other delicious products from the vegetable garden.
La Viorne tin (A little viburnum)
This ornamental shrub is also called Laurentin et Laurier-tin. It has evergreen foliage and blooms spectacularly in late winter. In June, it is covered with drupes, small bluish-black fruits. The many insects that shelter in the foliage of this shrub are excellent food for birds. Suddenly, the latter neglect a little the fruit trees of the orchard and the seeds of the garden. Note that if we want to remove the Grosbeak Stone Breaker of the vegetable garden, the Viburnum-tin is ideal because it is the favorite shrub of this passerine of the family of Fringillidae.
Holly (Ilex aquifolium)
Its evergreen foliage is an excellent shelter for wrens in particular, but also merles and the thrushes who are very fond of drupes, small fruits of a beautiful shiny red. These birds like to settle in Hollies. They protect themselves there from bad weather but also from predators thanks to the leaves with thorns representing a real rampart impassable by cats, dogs and birds of prey.
Black Elderberry (Black Beauty)
Also called Elderberry, this deciduous shrub flowers in summer and provides clusters of purplish-black berries to birds during the winter season. It is also a year-round shelter of choice for passerines and the like. It can be noted that nearly sixty species of birds appreciate the Black Elder above all.
Honeysuckle (of the genus lonicera)
This magnificent liana shrub which does not exceed 3 meters in height when adult is covered with extremely fragrant flowers in spring or summer depending on the variety. They attract many insects and as a result birds naturally nest there because they easily find the ideal habitat and food.
Many other shrubs are a delight for birds, especially passerines. It is therefore interesting to plant them in hedges or isolated in order to divert their attention from the vegetable garden and fruit trees.
Chasing pigeons to protect the vegetable garden
The pigeon is not the bird that we prefer because because of its imposing size, it tends to devastate vegetable plants just by passing from one bed to another. In addition, his droppings spoil everything.
This bird usually annoys the gardener who rightly fears for his crops, when the pigeons move in groups of 20 or 30 individuals from one end of the vegetable patch to the other. To make them want to come back, there are a few simple solutions to put in place.
The scarer
It is any object of the Compact Disc type, plate covered with aluminum or other which shines in the sun, moves under the slightest breeze or is equipped with an animated device as is the case of the weather vane or a small mill. You can also see various mobiles anti-pigeons in many gardens, both in town and in the countryside. Anyone can create original scarers with the means at hand and a little imagination. Whatever their look, they will keep pigeons away from the vegetable garden.
The pigeon lure
The best model to discourage pigeons from returning is the lure which has the appearance of a rapacious. Whether it’s an owl, an owl, an eagle, a buzzard or a falcon, it doesn’t matter, pigeons are really very afraid of all birds of prey.
Note that the Colombidae are not completely stupid! Scarers and decoys must be moved regularly to continue to scare pigeons.
Nets to protect the vegetable garden and fruit trees against birds
The bird netting as well as forcing sails constitute a good rampart in the garden as in the orchard and allow to save the harvest of vegetables and fruits. This is a very good solution to put in the vegetable garden at the start of the season. We can thus preserve our plantations because the nets, sails and plastic film of all kinds provide good protection against any type of predation.
These solutions are in any case very useful against pigeons, but also starlings which move in flocks in the gardens in order to feed on worms and insects which they unearth in the ground, but they also like fruits and berries. Crows also eat seeds, berries, fruits and insects that they do not hesitate to glean from the vegetable patch or orchard.
Obviously, it is not no way to kill the birds using traps or setting poison baits. The goal is simply to scare away the most devastating ones in the garden and orchard without hurting them. All are useful. The gardener must observe them to know how they live and what their favorite foods are. In this way, it will then be easy for him to find the soft solutions best suited to the species of birds that have settled in the garden. But we forget blowgun, slingshot and shotgun!