Berry Netting
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Gardeners are scratching their heads looking for ways to stop birds from stealing their berries once and for all. You have been looking forward to enjoying the fresh sweet taste of the berries only to find birds have beaten you to it. You've searched for solutions only to be disappointed. This article will help you find the best solutions to protect your berries and not share them with your bird friends.
I know it's hard to imagine, but birds will eat up to 80% of their body weight! They can go through your berries in no time at all.
Bird Netting Over Row Crops
Certain species of birds have different tastes from leaves and grass to fruits and seeds along with fruits and berries. Some birds rely on berries to get the nutritional values they require. Berries have antioxidants their bodies need to stay healthy. Birds are smarter than you might think, they will choose a berry's nutritional value by the berry's color over something else.
Amazing as it might seem scientific studies have shown that birds can find berries that offer the best nutrients. If your garden offers an abundance of berries, that could be why birds are flocking to it.
• Golden-Crowned Sparrows
• Fox Sparrows
• Purple Finches
• Band-Tailed Pigeons
• Dark-Eyed Juncos
• Spotted Tawhees
• American Robins
• Red-Eyed Vireos
• House Finches
• Black-Capped Chickadees
• Cedar Waxwings
• Western Tanagers
• Blueberries
• Raspberries
• Blackberries
• Strawberries
• Cherries
And the list goes on. If there is a berry in your garden, there's a bird looking for it!
Now it's time to look into how to protect your berries from birds. Probably the two best choices would be netting and cages. Both work very well on their own without a whole lot of attention.
Bird netting is very effective for protecting berries from birds. It's a very flexible material that can be used in large spaces as well as in areas for small crops of berries and you only need a few materials. You need to get bird-friendly netting, poles, stakes, and rope to create a simple, protective setting. First and foremost, choose a netting that will not entangle birds when they land on it. The netting should be labeled as” bird safe”.
To get the required measurements, measure the length and width of your garden area for the proper netting. You can use several bird nets but make sure they overlap when you install them. You want to ensure birds won't be able to get through the separations.
Mix of Different Berries
To begin with, cloches are low portable structures for protection made of glass or rigid transparent plastic. They can be placed over individual plants to protect them from birds. Also, you do not have to cover the entire plant. In small sections, cloches will protect the berries from birds. There are other alternatives like chicken wire cloches that you can get online. If you choose to build your own cloches, using glass or plastic will raise the temperature inside the cloches and could harm your plants.
Wire cloches will allow air to circulate and not raise the temperature inside them. Wire cloches will also allow pollinators to gain access to your plants. Also, if you use plastic or glass, you will have to hand pollinate during the flowering season. Otherwise, using glass or plastic, flowers will not be able to pollinate and the quality of the fruit will be a great deal less or the fruit will not develop,
Bird Picking from Tree
Cages are more difficult to install versus netting but are easier to care for. You can purchase them online or create them yourself to protect your berries from birds. They will not become a tangled nightmare. Netting can come apart allowing birds and other animals to get inside and attack your plants. You will have to replace netting when it's damaged or tangled up and that can be a pain.
In general, crop cages are sturdier so there is no tearing to worry about on a daily basis. The downside, they will cost more and you need room to store them ahead of time, especially during the winter months.
Animals are drawn by tempting food which can solve the problem of berries being stolen by birds. You should consider bird feeders for birds to focus on instead of your berries. Also, birds will not be in harm's way from netting or cages. Place the bird feeders near your berry plants where they will be flocking to. Their attention will be drawn away from the berries while they spend some time eating from the feeders. After eating, they will move on somewhere else.
You will have to check the feeders each day to ensure there are enough seeds for them to fill up. While eating the seeds, they will not be thinking about your berries. If you keep a record of the various species of birds that stop by, you will find out which ones are berry eaters! Another great trick, plant a few extra berry bushes for the birds. It will allow you and the birds plenty of berries to go around.
If you have the space, consider planting some berry bushes the birds are not attracted to. In the long run, you will be able to protect the berries birds go after. While planting these bushes, use a variety of colors that draw birds such as red which is the most popular color in the group. Include blue and purple colors as well which are very popular among birds.
One plant you might look into is Porcelain berries or Ampelopsis brevipedunculata. These unique, lovely plants have pink stems and large berries that go from deep blue and then turn to light purple or white. Even though they are attractive and edible, they are not particularly tasty.
Vineyard Bird Netting
The European Cranberry bush or Viburnum opulus‘Xanthocarpum is a cultivar-dense shrub covered with glossy leaves that look like maple leaves and turn yellow or pink during the fall. Their orange berries are eaten by birds but only as a last resort as the berries are quite sour.
Harlequin Glory Bower or Clerodendrum trichotomum would be an attractive addition to your garden. Its flowers have the scent of lilies with beautiful, fat pink fruit. It's a favorite among hummingbirds and several pollinators including honeybees and butterflies. Profusion Beautyberry or Callicarpa bodinieri has dark purple berries in the fall. The leaves are green then turn yellow. The shrub has clusters of lilac-colored flowers. The berries are violet/purple and appear after the leaves have dropped off.
Ripe Raspberries
Gardeners have used decoys for many years including owls and scarecrows to scare off birds from their crops. Fake owls seem to have a bigger impact than some other objects. Decoys play an important role. According to s study in Oregon, decoys with moving parts are not enough to keep birds away for any period of time. Other tactics include using a black hose that looks like a snake. Try a shiny pinwheel near the berries that will scare off birds.
Change the locations of the decoys to prevent birds from becoming too familiar with them. People have reported using other tactics that have worked such as painted rocks that look like berries, or red Christmas tree bulbs that resemble tomatoes on the plants. In some cases, birds will leave at least for a while but will eventually return.
Anyone who deals with birds knows they are not stupid creatures. They can figure out decoys and scare tactics and pick up where they left off if scared off. The best advice, try changing out different objects and alter your tactics and see how they work out. In general, you will have to rotate or replace different objects to keep them on their guard.
Gardeners as well as everyone in between know the incredible value found in birds. While they want their plants left alone, no one wants to harm these special animals that sing to us and give us pause as they float through the air. Try some of the suggestions we have provided in this article and see if you get the results are looking for. It might take a while to find the best formula for your garden to protect your berries, but keep at it, eventually, you will find a way to keep your berries to yourself!
Bird Standing in Tree