In the days when allotments were mostly neglected, those who still had them found there was very little trouble from birds. Now, however, birds have learned that allotments are a good source of high quality food and we sometimes have to fight them for every crop. Most gardeners will be aware that pigeons eat cabbages and starlings eat fruit, but birds will take and damage far more than you realise. This advice is aimed very specifically at allotments in Ashford, so if you haven't seen some of this stuff in your gardening books, don't be surprised.
This information is arranged by crop affected. Other, similar crops may be subject to similar damage - if you see something we haven't covered, let us know!
The birds that do the damage are mostly common ones found in country towns like Ashford. Recent changes in behaviour have been noticed, with the dry spring of 2012 in particular starting sparrows on a new rage for attacking crops which had not been seen to the same extent before. Much of the damage you have been attributing to slugs may be down to sparrows!
A RANGE OF NETTING TO PROTECT AGAINST BIRDS IS AVAILABLE AT A NON-PROFIT PRICE TO THE MEMBERS OF THE TRADING STORE. Click here for more details and how to join.
The birds that do the damage are mostly common ones found in country towns like Ashford. Recent changes in behaviour have been noticed, with the dry spring of 2012 in particular starting sparrows on a new rage for attacking crops which had not been seen to the same extent before. Much of the damage you have been attributing to slugs may be down to sparrows!
A RANGE OF NETTING TO PROTECT AGAINST BIRDS IS AVAILABLE AT A NON-PROFIT PRICE TO THE MEMBERS OF THE TRADING STORE. Click here for more details and how to join.
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Temporary (left) and permanent (right) frames for protecting crops from bird damage, both using water-mains pipe as a support
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ALPHABETICAL LIST OF VULNERABLE CROPS:
what to expect, and how to prevent it.
BEETROOT - Until a few years ago, beetroot was a trouble-free crop. Then the local sparrow population discovered that the leaves were a super source of water and nourishment. Oh dear!!! Now, any emerging row of beetroot seedlings will have them fluttering down to nip off every leaf at ground level. You may not even realise they have germinated! If you have been having trouble getting beetroot going, try covering the seedbed well with net to keep the sparrows out and see what happens! Once the plants have reached a decent size (leaves about 6ins/15cm tall) they are less tempting to the sparrows and, though they will take a nibble here and there, your crop should mature successfully.
BLUEBERRIES - do you grow these on your allotment? What experiences have you had with bird damage? Let us know!
BRASSICAS - The whole cabbage family are very popular with wood pigeons. It is they, rather than town pigeons (rock dove) or collared doves, which do the real damage. They will eat young, newly planted cabbage family crops in the summer. After the plants get larger and the leaves tougher, pigeons mostly leave them alone. However, once the cold weather starts, and the plants are large enough to perch on, the pigeons will be back and will eat all the young growth, stripping the leaves between the veins. Damage from pigeons looks different to damage by slugs or caterpillars - the missing bits have torn, ragged edges.
Pigeons are relatively easy to put off, however. You do not need to totally enclose the plants. When plants are young, the birds want to land and walk up to them. A collar of wire, loose netting or a wire netting tunnel will keep them away at this stage. They are very reluctant to land inside a small enclosed space or duck under net. Once the winter comes, a length of soft net draped along the tops of the plants will stop them landing and is easy to take off when you need to cut the crop.
GRAPE VINES - do you grow grapes on your allotment? What have you experienced with birds? Let us know!
LETTUCES - The damage you have been blaming on slugs may be down to sparrows. Since 2012 they have developed a real taste for lettuces and will eat all the leaf they can reach, especially when the plants are small. Protect newly emerging seedlings with tunnels of wire netting or a moveable frame covered with textile net. However, unlike pigeons, agile and clever little sparrows will creep under wire netting or though gaps, so your protection needs to be, if not totally impervious, at least very well secured. They will also perch on wire, pressing it down till they can reach the leaves through the holes!
PEAS - Young peas are a favourite with wood pigeons, and need to be well protected as they emerge with tunnels of wire or netting on frames or the whole row may simply vanish early one morning while you sleep. Once the tops of the peas have got out of the reach or a pigeon's beak, however they will tend to leave them alone and go elsewhere; although pigeons have started perching on mature plants to eat mange-tout varieties. Sparrows don't give up easily. They will creep under poorly-secured wire to eat the young seedlings, but as the plants grow they change their tactics. Traditional peas sticks make delightful perches for a hungry sparrow, and they will carry on trying to nip out the growing point if you let them. See our advice page on PEAS (click here) for a method of supporting pea vines which isn't so vulnerable to sparrows.
SOFT FRUIT is traditionally very vulnerable to bird damage, and most of us expect to net our fruit at some point. However, different varieties need slightly different treatment.
CURRANTS, either black, white or red, are eaten by pigeons when still at the green stage. You need to set your net up as soon as the first berries form. Pigeons aren't as hard to keep out as other birds, so at this point your nets can be loosely draped. If you find each 'strig' of currants has some blank spaces at the top, this is not due to poor pollination (as I used to think) but to pigeons stripping the first green currants before the net is put on!
GOOSEBERRIES are less attractive to birds than some fruit, and the green ones don't really attract blackbirds and thrushes much. However pigeons will eat them green, so it is best to get them under the same nets you set up for your currants.
LOGANBERRIES, BLACKBERRIES AND THEIR RELATIVES will attract blackbirds, thrushes and starlings. However, the local birds are reluctant to fly up under a net into the tangled growth, and less keen to creep through a gap than they would be at ground level with strawberries. As a result the plants are quite easy to net and as long as the birds can't land on the top you'll get good protection from quite a loose net. NOTE: WHEN CHOOSING PLANT VARIETIES, REMEMBER THAT THORNLESS PLANTS ARE MUCH EASIER TO NET THAN THORNY ONES!
RASPBERRIES - summer varieties may need netting (see advice above for loganberries), but with the abundance of food around everywhere the autumn varieties often escape any bird damage to worry about.
STRAWBERRIES are every bird's favourite, and few of us begrudge the odd berry to a blackbird or thrush. If you are losing a lot, you will want to net the crop. This takes some care. The net must be free of gaps and be secured to the ground by pegs or weights all round - otherwise the birds will find a way in. Once in, however, they may be unable to get back out, and can get entangled in the net and die. This is so sad that it is worth making sure your net is quite well stretched and secure. Or their struggles may attract foxes, which will rip your net up to get the bird.
SPINACH AND CHARD attract sparrows in the same way as beetroot, but it is definitely the beetroot they prefer. However, if you see ragged torn damage on leaves, suspect sparrows and net the plants.
what to expect, and how to prevent it.
BEETROOT - Until a few years ago, beetroot was a trouble-free crop. Then the local sparrow population discovered that the leaves were a super source of water and nourishment. Oh dear!!! Now, any emerging row of beetroot seedlings will have them fluttering down to nip off every leaf at ground level. You may not even realise they have germinated! If you have been having trouble getting beetroot going, try covering the seedbed well with net to keep the sparrows out and see what happens! Once the plants have reached a decent size (leaves about 6ins/15cm tall) they are less tempting to the sparrows and, though they will take a nibble here and there, your crop should mature successfully.
BLUEBERRIES - do you grow these on your allotment? What experiences have you had with bird damage? Let us know!
BRASSICAS - The whole cabbage family are very popular with wood pigeons. It is they, rather than town pigeons (rock dove) or collared doves, which do the real damage. They will eat young, newly planted cabbage family crops in the summer. After the plants get larger and the leaves tougher, pigeons mostly leave them alone. However, once the cold weather starts, and the plants are large enough to perch on, the pigeons will be back and will eat all the young growth, stripping the leaves between the veins. Damage from pigeons looks different to damage by slugs or caterpillars - the missing bits have torn, ragged edges.
Pigeons are relatively easy to put off, however. You do not need to totally enclose the plants. When plants are young, the birds want to land and walk up to them. A collar of wire, loose netting or a wire netting tunnel will keep them away at this stage. They are very reluctant to land inside a small enclosed space or duck under net. Once the winter comes, a length of soft net draped along the tops of the plants will stop them landing and is easy to take off when you need to cut the crop.
GRAPE VINES - do you grow grapes on your allotment? What have you experienced with birds? Let us know!
LETTUCES - The damage you have been blaming on slugs may be down to sparrows. Since 2012 they have developed a real taste for lettuces and will eat all the leaf they can reach, especially when the plants are small. Protect newly emerging seedlings with tunnels of wire netting or a moveable frame covered with textile net. However, unlike pigeons, agile and clever little sparrows will creep under wire netting or though gaps, so your protection needs to be, if not totally impervious, at least very well secured. They will also perch on wire, pressing it down till they can reach the leaves through the holes!
PEAS - Young peas are a favourite with wood pigeons, and need to be well protected as they emerge with tunnels of wire or netting on frames or the whole row may simply vanish early one morning while you sleep. Once the tops of the peas have got out of the reach or a pigeon's beak, however they will tend to leave them alone and go elsewhere; although pigeons have started perching on mature plants to eat mange-tout varieties. Sparrows don't give up easily. They will creep under poorly-secured wire to eat the young seedlings, but as the plants grow they change their tactics. Traditional peas sticks make delightful perches for a hungry sparrow, and they will carry on trying to nip out the growing point if you let them. See our advice page on PEAS (click here) for a method of supporting pea vines which isn't so vulnerable to sparrows.
SOFT FRUIT is traditionally very vulnerable to bird damage, and most of us expect to net our fruit at some point. However, different varieties need slightly different treatment.
CURRANTS, either black, white or red, are eaten by pigeons when still at the green stage. You need to set your net up as soon as the first berries form. Pigeons aren't as hard to keep out as other birds, so at this point your nets can be loosely draped. If you find each 'strig' of currants has some blank spaces at the top, this is not due to poor pollination (as I used to think) but to pigeons stripping the first green currants before the net is put on!
GOOSEBERRIES are less attractive to birds than some fruit, and the green ones don't really attract blackbirds and thrushes much. However pigeons will eat them green, so it is best to get them under the same nets you set up for your currants.
LOGANBERRIES, BLACKBERRIES AND THEIR RELATIVES will attract blackbirds, thrushes and starlings. However, the local birds are reluctant to fly up under a net into the tangled growth, and less keen to creep through a gap than they would be at ground level with strawberries. As a result the plants are quite easy to net and as long as the birds can't land on the top you'll get good protection from quite a loose net. NOTE: WHEN CHOOSING PLANT VARIETIES, REMEMBER THAT THORNLESS PLANTS ARE MUCH EASIER TO NET THAN THORNY ONES!
RASPBERRIES - summer varieties may need netting (see advice above for loganberries), but with the abundance of food around everywhere the autumn varieties often escape any bird damage to worry about.
STRAWBERRIES are every bird's favourite, and few of us begrudge the odd berry to a blackbird or thrush. If you are losing a lot, you will want to net the crop. This takes some care. The net must be free of gaps and be secured to the ground by pegs or weights all round - otherwise the birds will find a way in. Once in, however, they may be unable to get back out, and can get entangled in the net and die. This is so sad that it is worth making sure your net is quite well stretched and secure. Or their struggles may attract foxes, which will rip your net up to get the bird.
SPINACH AND CHARD attract sparrows in the same way as beetroot, but it is definitely the beetroot they prefer. However, if you see ragged torn damage on leaves, suspect sparrows and net the plants.
