Many people face problems of birds reaching the garden when they spread grass seeds to cover their lawns with natural green carpets.
How To Stop Birds From Eating Grass Seed? You can stop birds from eating grass seeds by using coated seeds, ground covers, aluminum foil strips, installing deterring sprinklers and wind chimes, adding scary decoys, and covering the ground with mulch or straw.
Finches, pigeons, sparrows, and many other garden birds attack the lawn ground when hungry and looking for a lunch to feed.
It is essential to stop them if you do not want uneven and patchy lawns, so you can use natural repellents and other scaring objects to keep them away.
Use coated seeds
You can avoid the bird’s attack on grass seeds by using coated seeds because they do not like to eat the coated food. These are not toxic but have a bad taste.
Birds are not attracted to these seeds because their taste is not appealing as they are coated with repelling substances. They try to land and pick them, but their bad taste makes birds fly away.
It can be an expensive solution due to the high cost of coated seeds, but it is suitable for those who want to get rid of these damaging birds without making any serious efforts.
However, you can also make these seeds repell at home if you do not want to spend a lot of money. Soak them in garlic and peppermint solutions for some time before spreading.
Hang feeder
You can provide a potential alternative source of food to birds by hanging a feeder in the garden that captures the attention of the flying creatures and attracts them.
They do not notice grass seeds on the ground when you keep the feeder stocked with nutritious food like grains, nuts, and fruits.
Hang it to trees or other higher spots so that it comes into notice of the birds flying over the garden. Preferably, they choose a nutritious treat containing various foods over seeds on the ground.
Hang aluminum foil strips
Aluminum foil is considered the cheapest method of deterring birds that try to reach grass seeds for eating purposes. It works in two ways, as its texture causes irritation when it lands on foil.
Accordingly, you can place small strips of foil on areas having a risk of attacks as you can place them under the soil. It should be close to the ground surface so that it can easily touch their feet.
Moreover, you can wrap the foil around pots, which requires a lot of foil and seems an expensive method, so hang a small strip on the thread to create an annoying reflection in their eyes.
Place decoy or noise deterrents
You can scare them by faking the birds of prey and putting models of owls and crows in the garden. The decoys decorate the garden and deter the hungry birds that are keeping an eye on grass seeds.
They can recognize the sounds of predators and quickly fly away from the spot to protect themselves from attack. Accordingly, you can play the recorded sound of larger predatory birds to deter them.
These decoys are easily available at hardware stores, so you can get a plastic owl or scarecrow, rubber snake, and many other decoys to place on the lawn.
Moreover, it is better to change the location of decoys often because they begin to recognize these decoys as fake objects if you keep them in one position all the time.
I prefer to use these decoys to get rid of the pigeons that usually visit my garden in search of food. The noise deterrents were also effective in kicking them away from my garden.
Install wind chimes
They can eat grass seeds and leave patches on the garden floor that look awful, so you have to deter them by installing wind chimes.
Fix poles on the ground surface and install these wind chimes on the top of the pole. These small pieces of metal or glass hanging to poles produce a tinkling sound when air touches them.
In addition, these suspended metal rods move back and forth, producing a noise that creates fear among birds and helps them keep away.
Use ground cover or burlap sheets
Ground covers can help protect the grass seeds from birds looking for an opportunity to come near the ground and feed on the nutritious food.
These are light in weight and build a barrier for the granivores without restricting light or moisture. Raise these covers a few inches higher from the ground to avoid the pecking birds.
Moreover, keep the cover or netting secure by placing stones on the edges so that it remains in its place during wind conditions.
Burlap sheets are also ideal for restricting them as it does not stop light from reaching the seeds, and water can seep through them to reach them.
Spray repelling solutions
They hate strong scents of natural products, like garlic, vinegar, cinnamon, and citrus oil that can become an effective repellent to keep them away from grass seeds.
You can prepare peppermint oil spray at home by mixing 10 to 15 drops of lemon and peppermint oils in almost 80 to 10ml water. Add almost ½ cup of vinegar into the solution.
Spray the solution on the lawn by transferring it into a spraying bottle and shaking it for 2 to 3 minutes. In addition, many people use cayenne pepper spray by adding it to soap and water solution.
Moreover, garlic and cinnamon sprays also work well in repelling these birds away from the lawn without causing any serious harm to them.
Install deterring sprinkler
Installation of motion sprinklers can deter birds away from grass seeds on the floor of the garden. It can frighten them by getting activated when they land on the lawn.
It produces a particular sound with a burst of water that can create fear among these granivores because they do not get closer to moving objects and loud noise.
Additionally, it will be beneficial for the growth of seeds as they need moisture for quick germination. The sprinkling water is an effective deterrent to keep birds away from the target area.
Cover with mulch or straw
You can help seeds germinate without any interference by covering the surface area with mulch, which is beneficial for the soil and provides protection.
Look for a weed-free straw at the landscaping stores and spread it evenly on the ground. Leave the straw for a few days until the germination process is complete.
It is a better option than planting extra seeds to get a green floor in the garden because mulch benefits soil fertility by adding nutrients to it.
In addition, remove the mulch material carefully using any suitable object like a rake when the grass seeds begin to grow. Quick removal can damage the fresh grass, so remove it gently.
One of my friends uses mulch to secure the ground surface whenever he spreads seeds on the lawn to grow healthy and fresh grass.
Hang shiny deterrents
They have a fear of shiny objects and prefer to stay away from them, so you can use some shiny CDs or mirrors to deal with the problematic birds.
These objects reflect light and cause visual disturbance due to the flickering effect. The sunlight hits the object, reflects back into their eyes, and affects their vision.
Accordingly, you can hang a thread in a diagonal pattern and fix its ends on the fence around the garden. Attach CDs at a distance of 3 to 4 feet on the thread to create vision problems.
In addition, you can also stick mirrors on the thread because it reflects light and deters the birds, which helps protect grass seeds.
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