I find the birds like to dig up seedlings more often when they're out in the open. One trick I use is to simply place branch trimmings and log cutoff or rocks in front of my plantings. The birds usually dig at the base of whatever I place in my garden, rather than dig at the root of the seedlings. I lose a few now and then, but there's plenty more left. Works a treat, and I'm just going to leave the logs in place to rot down into the woodchip mulch. Plenty more branches growing everyday that need pruning and can act as guards for my seedlings.
Wow. ;-) Someone that finally gets it! I've been trying to tell some of the folks, out here in the high valley of the Mohave desert, that have gardens and fruit trees, and are always fighting off the birds and critters,.....its the desert!!! They need water!!! You can buy a solar powered water pump for like 15 or 20 bucks and make a recycling bird bath out of a 5 gallon bucket, or any container, and those birds will stay out of your vegs/fruits. Most eat the dry seed of local plants/weeds, but mostly bugs. IF, the have sufficient water. You can do the same for ground critters, just bury the container down to ground level, put in another cheap solar pump/fountain to keep mosquitoes and algae at a minimum. For young plants, just use tull. Its very cheap and all critters, land or air, hate getting their feet tangled up in it. ;-)
Overplanting works! We have had raspberries for years, and at this point we have enough for everyone- bugs, birds- it's all good. I still have enough untouched for pies and freezing galore. (...Or do all the thorns help? Who knows!)
Thanks for sharing this with me as I was really upset prior after losing 2 tomatoes that I planed on eating the next day. After watching your video I have calmed down, went and store bought 2 tomatoes and left the 1/2 eaten ones out for any other birds who are thirsty or hungry.
Love your attitude and ideas ! Home gardeners should learn about birds so they can more easily coexist Here are some suggestions that work in southeast PA. The vast majority of bird species have ZERO interest in eating fruit. Pigeons and doves and most sparrows do not eat fruit. The only birds around here that like fruit are catbirds, mockingbirds and cardinals. (I have no idea where you live, so it could be different where you are.) I cut up an average size black grape into 4 sections and put them out on a platform feeder. I buy a lot of grapes when they are on sale because they don't go bad very quickly I put out about 5-10 grapes 3 or 4 times a day. I do this even in the winter because mockingbirds and cardinals do not fly south and I want them to be used to getting slices of grapes from 2 locations. Mocking birds are very territorial, so you most likely will only have 1 pair that will adopt & defend your yard from other mockingbirds. And there is a limit to how much fruit 1 pair can eat. Cardinals will eat sliced grapes but fruit is not a priority for them. Cardinals like safflower seeds and peanuts. ** Catbirds are usually the birds that are most problematic for people growing tomatoes. ** Catbirds fly south in the winter but they are not very territorial so you could have a dozen pairs in very close proximity to your yard in the spring and summer. I put out grapes for them consistently and I also keep a small deli container with grape jelly in it, especially while I am trying to protect my tomato plants. You can buy a generic brand of jelly at a very reasonable price at a supermarket. Catbirds love grape jelly. Catbirds don't really like tomatoes; they only peck them because they are looking for a water source. If they have a choice of some grape jelly & grapes or tomatoes, they will always go for the jelly and grapes You have to have a roof over your platform feeder to protect the food from inclement weather, if you are going to leave it unattended all day. I also keep a couple of bird baths filled with clean water every day in very close proximity to my garden at opposite ends. I am 70 YO & retired, so I have time to do this. I just began doing this, this summer and I didn't have any tomatoes pecked all summer. I would try this before buying and installing netting around every tomato plant. WRZ Delaware County, PA metro-Philadelphia
In JApan, they use wood vinegar in bottles hung in the trees. It prevent birds to roust in the trees, they seem to hate the smell. I never done this but only read about it. Great video
I love this video. I have a butterfly/bird garden. I started so many sunflower seeds for it in February, and lost nearly all of them. As far as I could tell, critters (birds, maybe lizards?) loved to gobble up the tender sprouts. Ok, so I was kinda growing them for wildlife- but guys! Leave a few to grow up so I can enjoy their beauty and you can have some seeds and nectar. Sheesh. Next year I will start them indoors or set up netting. Wish me luck.
Hi. I've used cd's tied up in the branches. I have a bird watering station and a small animal one (on the ground), plus water in a bucket in front of my house for passing dogs, cats, raccoons, etc. The bird one I have hung in a tree by using a hanging basket and inside the basket I've placed a close fitting plant drip saucer. Reason I have to fill it so often is - the robins have very luxurious baths! I like to share with nature also. Judy in Victoria BC Canada.
We use air guns. The birds here feed on grains and other produce, so the meat is very good. What doesn't get processed for a dinner or spring salad (and there's a lot) goes to the cats or dogs. We find that these birds constantly return IN SEASON (not even for annual migration) for one reason: the people in town don't understand pest control. They're too liberal and limp-wristed and keep their vermin breeding with garbage and neglect, from the rats-with-wings like sparrows to REAL rats. So do us a favor, and control your garbage (open cans, litter, exterminate near dumping sites, etc) and your pests (including those useless EPA and Land management idiots who should be bothering city-people and their filthy cities.
You have an awesome garden sir, I hope to have one just like it someday, but probubly cant grow some of the trees you do as we get -20 sometimes in the winter so not a long growing season. Come to think of it there is lots of peach orchards in niagara and lots of apple farms near collingwood so i might be ok. started this year with some blueberries.
Another trick is to cut small strips of newspaper and peg them with clothespins/clothespegs to various thin branches , here and there. The birds don't like the newspaper waving in the air or even just sitting there still. Birds think the newspaper strip is some kind of black and white bird and stay away.
Brilliant advice. I appreciate your respect for all beings and the ecology that we are a part of. You've demonstrated that you can have abundance without declaring war on Mother Nature.
i have 2 stock tank ponds which birds love drinking from. they also love decimating the fruit on my peach, jujube, pear and mulberry trees next to the ponds.
Love it. Didn't want to do like I did in the old days and buy stuff so I just figured out how to make something cool with materials laying around. Thanks for the motivation! 1:52
Birds were eating my sunflower plants as soon as they sprouted. I started pouring a solution of 1 part urine to 5 parts water over them and the area and now the plants are safe. I wouldn't mind sharing some of my stuff with them either if they'd let my stuff grow. I feel like putting a bunch of bait on the ground and getting a shotgun and blowing some of them away and leaving them lying there as a warning for the rest sometimes. I do give them water and change it and leave them other food to eat sometimes but it's very frustrating when they kill my plants before they've had a chance to produce. Thank you for all of your videos, you have great content.
Man, what a well done video. But more importantly, what an awesome philosophy. You’re right, there’s no need to be perfectionists when it comes to our harvests. Let nature take a little tax. It’ll come back around anyway 👍🏻
I let the weeds grow in my yard as long as they are not interrupting my vegetables. The birds only like to touch the weeds but not the vegetables. It really helps.
I think I can use chip bags and cut them in strips and make strips if them in sticks to keep them away why but shiny stuff when yo could use the ship bags
Maybe a dumb question, but will birds drink from a bird bath on the ground? I don’t have a proper bird bath atm, but have a big drip tray from a pot, have filled it up this morning, but haven’t seen any birds there yet.
It's best to put a birdbath up at least a few feet off the ground. Would you want to bath down low where you could easily get attacked, or up a bit, out of reach of cats, dogs, & other predators?
I have a birds bath Not working in my garden. The parrots are not interested in the bird bath they are interested in my apples. My trees have grown too tall maybe too late to cut them down What do you think .?
I do the bird bath and keep it replenished with drip hose on timer sprinkler. But I also find if I put out a bird block behind my yard in the desert they have their food and water and do don't come in for my blueberries and fruits in my yard. But if the bird block gets eaten up they will come in my yard and make loud barking chirps alerting me to replace with new food! If I don't then I start to see them inside my yard. So for me #1 birdbath & #2 bird block. We made a stand that holds the bird block 5 feet off the ground so Javalina can't get to it. Smart squirrels do but that's okay because there's plenty to go around. We buy a new bird block every 20 days $14. But the birds and squirrels never come in my yard as long as it's there. Your idea of the dwarf trees is smart too. The truth is that birds and animals DO understand the concept of TERRITORY but they also understand that if they do not have water they will have to come in to our abode and save their lives and drink the water. Great video and beautiful orchard garden!
Dealing with super aggressive crows who attacked me for putting netting on my strawberries. They stay by my window and plot on how to get to the fruit every morning.
Are sunflowers as effective as the things you mentioned for the birds? Ty! I'm so jealous of your garden! I always learn something from you! I agree. I share with the critters when ever i can.
I don't mind small birds, but those crows are not welcome. They like to hang out on the palm tree or top of the house and wake me up walking over the bedroom skylights. The palm tree is old, 60-70 years old so the crows love hanging there. I recently had someone trim the dead leaves off the palm tree, and had a nest w berries growing there. I'm going to do a scarecrow but someone also mentioned a balloon, because of the movement, apparently crows get scared. I'll have to try that.
Love the birdbath idea. And, I don't have your abundance yet, so I'm using mesh bags over fruits, beginning this year. So far, I've saved some blueberries, tho this looks really tacky. Lol
The first things I thought of were nets and cats... if you got a big property, you might get away with making one corner bird friendly and having sacrificial plants there.
I hang 1 to 2 in square mirrors like Christmas ornaments from my fruit trees. Got them from target for$1.29/piece. They work great except for Robin's whom try to make the mirrors their girlfriends.
Nope, but when it comes to pest birds like swallows and starlings and such, we shoot them, then feed them to the cats or grind them up and give them to the dogs. Local songbirds are one thing, but pest birds are rats with wings. They eat a lot of grain and produce, of course, so sometimes if we feel like it, we process the kills for dinner. But there are just too many of them. And so whatever doesn't make it into the spring salad goes to the cats or preserved dog-food.
