The Good.....
The raspberries are full of bees! Bees are good. It's been years since I've seen this many bees in the garden.The Bad.....
There are wasps/hornets in the strawberries. Wasps/hornets/yellow jackets are pests in the berry patch, and I've had problems with them stinging the dogs in the past.The Horrible.....
Bird damage. Sparrows, to be exact. Virtually all of the beets have been ruined, and most of the lettuce (except what is under the netting) has been chewed to pieces. Yes, I'm positive it's the sparrows, I watch them do it every day. Today they moved in on the baby carrots, and I'm wearing myself ragged trying to shoo them out every few minutes. I'm afraid next year I'll have to put wire over the entrances to the bird houses, rather than encourage the birds to use them. The damage is worse every year, and I absolutely will not cover my entire garden in netting.
When you see them, let the dogs just haul (or as fast as they can run those poor stubby legged things) over there to run them off. They'll learn. Either that, or invest in a super soaker and blast them. It may not work, but you'll have a hell of a lot of fun.
ReplyDeleteThat's a real bummer AG...I have not had that problem before. I didn't even realize the birds would eat beet greens...bad, bad birds : ( How about getting a kitty to patrol the garden?
ReplyDeleteRibbit, I'm going to have to hire a therapist for Otto and Annie as it is. I open the door and yell "Get 'em!" and they run out barking. Then they bark at the neighbors behind us, and they bark at the neighbors next to us, and they get scolded for barking. I'm sure they don't understand why it's alright to bark at birds and squirrels, but not at people and other dogs.
ReplyDeleteThe sparrows have already made their nest in the bird house, so I'll have to put up with them this spring. Once the babies are out of there, I'll board up the hole. Although they aren't the only ones at the smorgasbord, they're just the closest to it.
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Sunny, this is the first year for birds eating the beet greens, but they've always chewed up the lettuce and pea vines. Sparrows are supposed to eat small insects and seeds...don't believe it.
No kitty. I already have enough problems transporting two dogs and a rabbit to and from Arizona each year.
oh those birds think they're staying at an all inclusive resort in your backyard! nice rooms, great food... you got bird baths too?=)
ReplyDeleteDang....it's just odd that those birds are doing all that damage. I'd have to get the shotgun out!
ReplyDeleteOh no! I'm noticing that the pests are starting to become more active these days. We've had it so easy until now. I should probably do a better job of protecting my brassicas but for some reason, I've been really bad about using my fabric row cover this spring.
ReplyDeleteHopefully the beets bounce back. Have you tried using tin foil or hanging CDs to scare away the birds?
Kelli, no baths, but I do provide showers every few days ;-)
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EG, I am about ready to buy a pellet gun. Really. With my luck, I'd shoot the neighbor.
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Thomas, I have silver curly ribbon around the cabbages that they were eating. I didn't think about getting out some of my old CDs, I could give that a try over the lettuce. If I'm going to have any beets, I'll either have to cage them in like the two main lettuce beds, or replant into the already caged beds where the radishes came out...I was going to put more lettuce seedlings there, though. I was watching the sparrows tonight, and they were nibbling on the Sweet William plants I put in last night :-( I don't think anything (leafy green) in the garden is safe from them.
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well you could always try getting one of those motion sensor sprinkler thingies just remember to turn it off when you're going into the garden...
ReplyDeleteWhat you need is to get a mockingbird to nest in your yard! Our mockingbird (he's been here for 2 years) literally screams and divebombs everything that tries to enter "his yard", including us! He has nailed the puppy, and he dives at me every spring, I have to wave a broom around my head for a few weeks every spring when the babies are in the nest, he gets particularly nasty then. He sits perched on top of an arbor watching the back door waiting for his next prey to come out, LOL! He does leave my doves alone, which is nice since I really like them, but I am blackbird free! As scary as he can be, it's kind of amusing when I think of what I look like to the neighbors swinging a broom around my head with one hand and watering the garden with the other!
ReplyDeleteI had something eating my swiss chard for a while but it seems to have stopped - I suspected birds due to the mechanical tears of the leaves as opposed to the damage a rabbit does or insects. Hopefully they are gone for good from that crop. Birds also ate my entire first planting of peas - eating hte germinated seeds (Sprouts!). I had to replant and protect the second crop which thankfully is growing nicely. Love to see the bees, the hornets and wasps - Not So Much!
ReplyDeleteOh no, not hornets, they're horrid!
ReplyDeleteGaby, I'm afraid the dogs wouldn't like that at all! Besides, the two worst offenders live in a birdhouse in the garden, so the sprinklers would be going off constantly ;-)
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Erin, we don't have mockingbirds here. We do have some horrid starlings and even more horrid crows. I didn't have the problems with sparrows when my garden was right off the patio, away from any trees, and before I put up a couple of bird houses. I'm not moving my garden back toward the house, but I will be plugging the entrances to the birdhouses.
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Kitsap, I wouldn't get so upset if the birds would pick a plant and eat it, but they rip the leaves off of all of them, and leave many bits of leaves just lying on the ground. At first they didn't bother the red lettuces, but I watched mama sparrow shred a lovely red oak leaf lettuce this morning, then fly back into the birdhouse.
I can't find the hornets' nest. Usually they build them under the eaves of our covered patio, where I can zap them with hornet killer spray. They're not there this spring, but they are very evident in the garden. I'm wondering if they are the variety that nests in the ground.
I hear you with those starlings, ugh! We have them under our front porch and they fly so erratically they remind me of bats at night
ReplyDeleteWell Granny, if your garden didn't taste so good they wouldn't eat it!
ReplyDeleteI really don't know what you can do about the birds. I'm not sure that if you take away the feeders they will stop coming. If all else fails....maybe relocation..to Mexico!! :)
Oh, I had a blonde moment this morning while fixing my following profile. I think that I'm following you twice!
Erin, they do harass the sparrows by trying to get into the nest for the eggs, but the birdhouse hole is too small for them. It's good to see mom and dad sparrow being so protective though.
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Robin, it would be nice if they shared the garden with us! I doubt relocation would help, there's always critters trying to eat my garden in AZ, too.
You can follow me as many times as you'd like....I just appreciate the following :-D
Hi, Jan...I just about lost you in the shuffle (above)! I worry about the dogs and hornets. I had a large vet bill last year when Annie got stung. Her nose and face swelled up so huge, it was scary!
ReplyDeleteI read somewhere that if you have bird problems like that you should try to attract wrens to nest in the yard as they chase all the other birds out (and they only eat insects). I have no clue if it works or not or if you can make a birdhouse that will only attract a wren. Or I'm hiring my ghosts out. If they can chase my cucumbers out of their soil blocks, surely they can chase the birds out of your yard.
ReplyDeleteSend me a ghost, Daphne, because I've never seen a wren around here. House finches, robins, quail, crows and starlings. Oh, I had a hummingbird in my lilacs yesterday! I'd never seen a hummingbird here before, nor so many bees in years!
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