Gardening is about more than just sticking some seeds in the ground and eating what sprouts. Unfortunately, no matter how hard you worked in that garden, there is always someone waiting to help you with your reward. Birds can add a lot of color to the drab winter, but when spring comes, they can change and become serious garden pests . The birds are especially noticeable at parties and often eat seedlings as they emerge from the ground.
Protecting seedlings from birds can be frustrating, but you have several options when it comes to protecting garden seeds from birds.
How to protect seedlings from birds
Gardeners have come up with several ways to prevent birds from eating seedlings, ranging from the complicated to the impractical. Although you can buy tools like artificial owls and bird scaring supplies at your hardware store, these tricks lose their power over time. The only sure way to keep birds off your seedlings is to completely exclude your feathered friends.
You can start by moving any food sources away from your garden. Keep your feeder stocked as an alternative food source for birds that may be picking at your seedlings simply because they are hungry. Once your seedlings have reached about eight inches, you can relax a bit; most birds will not bother them at this time.
When birds eat seedlings, most gardeners will end up running for bird netting or chicken wire. Both can serve as excellent exclusion materials, as long as you’ve built a sturdy frame to hold them. Arches made of PVC, bamboo, or soft hose can provide the support these materials need and will resist a lot of wind if driven deep into the ground. Once you’ve stretched the material of your choice over the frame, pull it tight and pack it with stones or secure it to the ground with garden staples to prevent it from sagging.
Another option that is still being researched is to use monofilament line to discourage birds from landing in your yard in the first place. Scientists aren’t sure what it is that birds find so unpleasant about fishing line, but there is strong evidence that they want nothing to do with this material. For row crops , you can suspend a single piece of fishing line above the seedlings and secure it to stakes at both ends of the row. Seedlings with thick beds will benefit from running strands at 12-inch (30 cm) intervals. Choose a 20 lb.9 kg. Or more for better results.