{"id":5583,"date":"2016-08-04T09:00:47","date_gmt":"2016-08-04T13:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/homegardenjoy.com\/site\/?p=5583"},"modified":"2019-03-14T18:41:03","modified_gmt":"2019-03-14T22:41:03","slug":"keeping-birds-garden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/homegardenjoy.com\/site\/2016\/08\/keeping-birds-garden.html","title":{"rendered":"Keeping Birds Out of the Garden"},"content":{"rendered":"

Keeping birds OUT of the garden was never part of my plan. I even wrote a book about attracting birds to the garden! Yet birds are destroying my tomatoes this year…crows, to be exact. It’s fair to say I want to murder the murder of crows.<\/p>\n

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Keeping Birds Out of the Garden<\/h2>\n

I’m not sure there’s really anything that completely ‘bird proofs’ a garden. And many birds are wonderful additions to the garden. Not only do they add beautiful songs and colorful motion, some species eat insects that can damage crops. I love to see bluebirds around the garden because I know they’re dining on several species of insects that damage my plants.<\/p>\n

But the crows…don’t get me started on the crows this year.<\/p>\n

Here’s an example of their handiwork – or perhaps I should say beak-work?<\/p>\n

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The tomatoes look terrific this year, except for the few that the crows are destroying. That number keeps growing. Each day, there are more tomatoes pecked open and hollowed out. Most of the tomatoes they choose are ripe and cracked near the top. I think they use the crack as a wedge for their beaks to break through the skins. I’m trying to stay one step ahead of the crows and pick the tomatoes just before peak ripeness, but it’s sad to see so many of them destroyed by the crows.<\/p>\n

In the spring, the crows love eating my strawberries<\/a>. I formed an uneasy truce with them by draping a bird net over the strawberry bed from May through the end of June. After I pick enough berries to make jam, I remove the net and let them have the rest. I thought this would satisfy them, but the ripe tomatoes just a few beds over seem to their next target.<\/p>\n

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The strawberry bed (far right with posts in the corners) was draped with a bird net until July 1. The tomatoes are the new target in my raised bed garden.<\/p><\/div>\n

Since I don’t want to shoot the birds like my farming neighbors do when they attack the corn, I started looking into other methods to deter birds, especially crows, from the garden.<\/p>\n

Here are tips for bird proofing your garden or keeping birds out of the garden:<\/p>\n