Gardeners have ample things to contend with in our gardening pursuits, some which can be quite disheartening.
One of my disappointments has to be a fruit tree that is nicely laden with this seasons crop heading towards ripening looking a grand sight. One thinks ‘what a great crop’ and we savour the thought of enjoying our bounty and sharing it with family and friends
A day or so later disaster; where much the still unripe fruit has being pecked and eaten by birds!
What to do to save the rest of the fruit?
Out comes the bird flash tape or old CD’s and our fruit tree starts to look more like a Christmas tree.
That works for a little while but the birds are like in the situation of a Scare Crow, they become used to the bangles and flashing lights and then back in to enjoy the fruits of your labours.
Ok we are gardeners and we will not be beaten and at the very worst will hopefully be able to pick at least one ripe fruit for the season from that tree.
I have tried many things such as Bird Netting which is difficult to put over a fruit tree and ten times worse to take off.
To be effective it has to be a complete cocoon over and under to the tree with no possible gap for the birds to get in.
That is hard to do and you will find that a few days later one or more birds are trapped in the netting and then you have the job of rescuing them.
Besides birds will sit on the netting and their weight forces it down so they can peck at the fruit through the netting gaps.
A point here is that birds are very intelligent and they pass on their knowledge and learnt skills very quickly to their fellow birds.
That was found many years ago in England when a bird was attracted to the silver milk bottle top on the bottle of milk on peoples front step (home delivery days) pecked through the sliver top and was able to then drink the cream at the top of the milk.
Within in a week everyone’s bottles of milk were pecked at by hundreds of birds that had learnt the trick.
I have used crop cover over a branch with fruit on and tied at trunk end and used clothes pegs to hold the cover in place under the branch. (Draped over a branch tied at both ends and clothes pegs to seal)
Very nicely kept the birds off but the cover created too much shade from sunlight so the sweetness of the ripe fruit did not happen.
So covering the leaves on the branch was not good for the sweetness of the fruit. (No carbs from sunlight).
I noted in the Philippines when I was there that people would wrap the mangos fruit on the tree with pieces of newspaper, that protected the fruit from birds, wasps and any other pests.
I presume there is a knack to that so the paper does not wash off in the rain or have to be replaced after its rained.
So we could with larger fruit use soft muslin cloth as a cover over the fruit and pegged at the stem ( I nearly spelt it ‘muslim’ and if done so, all hell would have broken loose as one can imagine and a few good souls would have told me of my error).
So again a bit of work to protect the fruit but one hopefully would enjoy the benefits of one’s labour.
A few months back one of the importing companies I obtain products from told me that they were looking at a bird repellent gel that is used to keep birds from roosting on buildings.
I remember them saying that the gel smelt like bubble gum.
That caught my interest and so I brought the product they had on hand which was not much as it was samples for them to try out in NZ.
It was little lids 70mm wide 12mm deep with a plastic tear off cover over it.
See the picture here.
Inside the lid is a gel.
One of my dual Nashi pear trees I saw just over a week ago was being attacked by my local birds which is annoying as I feed the birds every day. I presume they enjoy the grains and puppy biscuits I feed them but want some fruit desert as well.
So my poor Nashi had already lost a few fruit and a few others with peck holes in them.
I remembered that I had the Bird gel so I opened a lid and knowing it is a proximity effect I used a small brush so I could dab the gel on the branches or leaves next to each bunch of fruit.
I kept and eye on the tree every day and found there was no further damage, but on one branch that was too difficult to treat and yes the unprotected fruit there, was being pecked at. (A good control to prove it worked on the protected fruit).
Even the fruit previously pecked at that had gel near them suffered no further damage other than wasps were enjoying the easy access.
My trees are only young about two metres or more tall so I used the container to do another smaller nashi pear tree with fruit on. Two smaller apple trees both which have nice crops on.
It rained a few days later and the gel resisted the rain as it is sticky and hung on where placed.
So it is a bit rain-proof.
I then had some beetroot seedlings I wanted to plant out in one of my planter boxes.
Birds love my beds as they have lots of worms in them and when I normally plant seeds or seedlings I have to use crop cover till the plants are well established.
Silverbeet and beet root leaves are also a gourmet food for the birds and young seedlings get stripped and completely eaten. My first sprout crop of beetroot seed was looking great and next day all gone.
So I went to a $2 shop where I found some smaller old fashion wooden clothes pegs called Dolly Pegs.
I put then into the area with the just planted seedlings, pushing the pegs part way into the soil leaving 40mm above the soil which I then brushed some gel onto the heads of the pegs. Result…No Bird Damage.
I also place some gel onto the entrance way into my glasshouse and on the stakes supporting my tomato plants which birds had up to then enjoyed a few nice ripe tomatoes.
No further damage.
All that was done with one lid.
How they work according to the overseas manufacture is:
- Visual Deterrent: The gel releases a vapor that appears as a flame to birds, deterring them from the area.
- Olfactory Deterrent: The scent of the gel acts as a strong deterrent to birds.
- Gustatory Deterrent: If ingested, the gel will make birds feel unwell, discouraging them from returning.
- Tactile Deterrent: Birds dislike the sticky texture of the gel, further deterring them from landing.
Most effective on bigger birds like black birds, starlings and pigeons, not so effective on smaller birds like sparrows, wax eyes and fantails. I suspect it could be a way to stop the pestie pukeko but it is a proximity affect so needs to be very close to the thing you are protecting.
On ledges of building where they are used the lids of gel are place 20 to 25 cm apart for maximum effect.
The product is only available by mail order as It is not brooded for retail.
SDS sheet is available by request.
Stocks are limited till another shipment arrives from overseas so at this time there is a limit of one lid per order/customer and best to add it to our other gardening products you need to restock at this time. Otherwise the shipping is more expensive than the product on its own.
I would like to hear back from those that try this product what results they have found from using it.
Only available by Mail Order here.
Image credit: Vincent van Zalinge
Products mentioned are from Wallys Range of products and can be found in some garden shops or by Mail Order on www.0800466464.co.nz
Problems ring me at: Phone 0800 466464
Garden Pages and News at www.gardenews.co.nz
Shar Pei pages at www.sharpei.co.nz
Mail Order products at www.0800466464.co.nz
