Most garden owners enjoy the various animals that, as guests or permanent residents, really turn a garden into a natural paradise. Sometimes, however, birds can attack your own berry bushes in such large numbers that there is hardly anything left for the harvest.

Birds also like berries

Birds can be a problem - but often they aren't

First of all, it must be said that all fruit plants in the garden certainly do not have to be covered with protective nets and gratings as a preventive measure. It depends on many different factors whether or not a garden becomes a target for migratory flocks of birds at all. The problem of bird damage on the berry bushes in the garden is largely determined by the following factors:

  • Location of the garden and food supply in the neighborhood
  • Feed alternatives in the same garden
  • Location along the migration routes of flocks of birds
  • Ripening time of the different types of berries in the garden

Protect berry bushes from birds with nets

So that berry bushes such as currants and gooseberries can be effectively protected from thieving starlings and other birds, the net should be installed punctually before the start of the harvest season. Note, however, that these flimsy plastic nets can be all but ineffective if they allow birds to reach the fruit from the ground or are placed directly on the branches. It has therefore proven to be particularly advantageous to surround rows of berry bushes or potted plants placed side by side with a frame made of bamboo sticks or rabbit wire, over which the actual bird protection net is stretched at a distance from the branches and fruits.

Alternatives to bird protection nets

Since there are always tragic deaths of animals entangled in the bird net, its use in private horticulture is controversial. The so-called defense kites can serve as an alternative. These are silhouettes of birds of prey made of metal, which have a deterrent effect on some bird species such as starlings. It can also be worthwhile to use a suitable bird incubator to specifically persuade a family of starlings to settle there. Since starlings defend their "breeding tree" against other starlings, this can keep bird feeding to a minimum. It also helps to offer the birds food alternatives that are of little interest to humans, such as elderberry, privet, ivy and mountain ash.

tips

If you protect your berry bushes in the garden from birds with special nets, then you should definitely tie up their loose ends and tips so that they do not become a deadly trap for curious birds. Bird protection nets should also not hang down to the ground, otherwise they can be fatal to toads and other amphibians.

Category:

Vegetable garden