Birds

[sez]

My new lottie apparently has a problem with pigeons - while i was there today i could see them wandering around on the plots so I can see this might prove to be a real problem. What plants are most at risk / will need protecting? This year I plan on growing potatoes, carrots, parsnips, broccoli/calabrese, beans and peas galore, and some squash etc (courgette, butternut, gem, maybe cukes).

I have absolutely loads of drinks cans (OH loves beer, I love diet pop lol), could I cut them up into shapes to make shiny things to hang up and scare the birds off?

[PAULW]

Cover your brassicae's with net and peas can be vunerable when young, dont bother with the CD's pigeons use them like a budgie uses a mirror

[Two_Sheds]

Barriers are the only thing that works ... and they'll try and peck through the net too, so don't drape it directly on the plants, "hover" it a few inches away

[Flummery]

Our site (and my garden) are plagued with them at this time of year. They love ALL the things you're growing - not daft are they? Later in the year they wander off to find what they can in the fields round about but March/April/May they are real scavengers. I agree with the above - a strong barrier is needed to keep them off. We use wire netting tacked to wooden frames and make A shapes or boxes over vulnerable plants.

[Two_Sheds]

My pigeons were landing on the net and pecking through it, so I constructed an intricate cat's cradle of black sewing cotton above the crop - invisible to the eye, and the pigeons hate touching it.
Unfortunately, because it's invisible, I have been getting tangled up in it too, all wrapped in my hair and everything. Back to the drawing board ...
Individual chicken-wire cages have been the best thing, but are a pain to store

[HeyWayne]

Pump action shotgun should also help.

[Two_Sheds]

Today I spent an hour or two putting in 40 broad bean plants, staked them properly too (it's a wind tunnel on my site); mulched the planting hole with newspaper, labelled them. Stood back, very pleased with self... then noticed the pigeons circling and lining up on the fences :O
I'm dreading going back and finding only stumps.

[HeyWayne]

Link one of these up to the water butt: Motion-activated Garden Pest Repeller with water-jet action! - The Scotsman Offers