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The Dollar Store Hack to Keep Birds Away From Your Garden

June 22, 2019

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Do you struggle with birds constantly eating your vegetables and seedlings? Me too! I love planting lettuce, spinach, swiss chard, beets, broccoli, peas, cabbage, and cauliflower, but the birds eat them as soon as they sprout.

It’s so bad, that last year I didn’t get any beets, spinach, peas or swiss chard because they ate everything the second it sprouted from the ground. I tried those bright whirligigs, pie plates, CD’s, and just plain old yelling at them every time I walk by, but none of it worked.

Are birds eating all of your leafy vegetables?  Here's a simple dollar store solution you can DIY in the vegetable garden to keep them out! #vegetablegarden #diy #birds #pests
This is Scrappy. He is the ruler of my front yard vegetable garden and you don’t want to mess with him. I yell at him and he just stares back at me and eats my broccoli.

I even removed half of their habitat–some old cedars against the house that were very much past their prime. I hoped that would encourage the birds to move elsewhere, but Scrappy (the ringleader who looks like he fought with a cat and won) and his little band of hungry birds live on another year to feast upon my vegetables.

I wish the birds would stay out of my vegetable garden and eat my weeds instead!!

Related: How to Keep Animals Out of Your Garden

But this year I got smarter. I figured out a DIY solution using dollar store supplies that you can easily make in 10 minutes or less. Here’s the video to see exactly how to do it, and I’ll give supplies and directions below.

P.S. Youtube always gets me at the worst possible spots for the covers. Someday I will have enough subscribers to get the thumbnail feature. Until then, enjoy unflattering pictures of my face. 🙂

This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you purchase something I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. You can read more about it in my privacy policy. Thanks for supporting Shifting Roots!

Are birds eating all of your leafy vegetables?  Here's a simple dollar store solution you can DIY in the vegetable garden to keep them out! This cover protects your plants and is so easy to make! #vegetablegarden #diy #birds #pests

How to Make a Cover to Protect Your Garden From Birds

You’ll need the following supplies, most of which can easily be picked up at the dollar store, Amazon, or a big box store. In the video and pictures, I used a white cloth designed to keep bugs out, because I needed to use that cloth anyway for my broccoli. If you are planting something else or don’t struggle with flea beetles and moths, you could use bird netting instead. I will list both options and you can choose.

  • Roll of white gardening fabric OR
  • Roll of bird netting
  • Large Binder Clips
  • Hula hoop(s) I used two here, but you may use more or less.
  • Heavy Duty Scissors

Cut the Hoola Hoops

In my set up, I used two hoola hoops and crossed them over each other. If you need to cover rows, you could would not cross them, and could even cut the hoop in half to get two pieces, instead of using one hoop as the whole piece. Do what makes sense for your space.

Hoola hoops can be tricky to cut, and they may be filled with water or pebbles of some kind. I found it easier if I bent the spot I wanted to cut first, then cut it.

Once the hoola hoops are cut, you can stick them 4-6 inches deep into the ground.

Cut and Arrange the Fabric

Cut your pieces of fabric so the hoola hoop is fully covered. In this case, I cut four pieces slightly longer than I needed them, and tucked the ends in at the top as I clipped them.

If you are making more of a traditional row cover, you would just cut one long piece the length of your row, plus enough at each end to read the ground to be tied or held down. The fabric on mine in this configuration is held down with a brick. If the hoola hoops are wider than your fabric, you’ll need two pieces of fabric the same size and clip one to each side of the hoola hoop.

Related: Easy Ways to Prevent Pests in The Garden

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Clip with Binder Clips and Enjoy Your Bird-Free Vegetable Garden

The binder clips make setting up your hoop house so simple. No sewing, no fussing, and it can all be taken apart and reused as need year after year.

No matter what your project is, you’ll probably need more binder clips than you think, and once you see how easy this method is you’ll probably do it in other spots in your garden. Order at least a 24 pack.

Are birds eating all of your leafy vegetables?  Here's a simple dollar store solution you can DIY in the vegetable garden to keep them out! This cover protects your plants and is so easy to make! #vegetablegarden #diy #birds #pests

Click here for more ideas for keeping bugs off your broccoli.

Will you make this protective cover? I’d love to know if you do!

Kristen Raney

Kristen is a former farm kid turned urban gardener who owns the popular gardening website, Shifting Roots.  She is obsessed with growing flowers and pushing the limits of what can be grown in her zone 3b garden.  She also loves to grow tomatoes, but oddly enough, dislikes eating them raw.

3 Comments
Filed Under: Uncategorised Tagged: birds, DIY, dollar store, seedlings, vegetable garden

About Kristen Raney

Kristen is a former farm kid turned urban gardener who owns the popular gardening website, Shifting Roots.  She is obsessed with growing flowers and pushing the limits of what can be grown in her zone 3b garden.  She also loves to grow tomatoes, but oddly enough, dislikes eating them raw.

Comments

  1. Janice Staniec says

    June 22, 2019 at 8:50 am

    Here's a real side note - I find music on a video competes with what the person is saying, making it harder to hear. Do other people like 'background' music on an instructional video? Otherwise - nice DIY - does enough sunlight be through? Is the cover more effective than bird netting?
    Reply
  2. Cathy says

    April 22, 2020 at 11:43 am

    Love the idea... so tired of birds eating my chard! Will try this as soon as I can go to Dollar Store and safely do “physical distancing”!! Thanks!! Cathy
    Reply
  3. Kim says

    May 24, 2020 at 9:54 am

    Excellent tip! Thanks
    Reply

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Welcome!

Hi, I'm Kristen and I help new gardeners learn to grow their own vegetables and beautify their yards. I also share recipes that use all that delicious garden produce. Grab a coffee (and your gardening gloves) and join me for gardening tips, simple recipes, and the occasional DIY, all from the lovely city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

P.S. First time gardener? You'll want to download the quick start gardening guide below!

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Welcome!

Hi, I’m Kristen and I help new gardeners learn to grow their own vegetables and beautify their yards. I also share recipes that use all that delicious garden produce. Grab a coffee (and your gardening gloves) and join me for gardening tips, simple recipes, and the occasional DIY, all from the lovely city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

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Growing a luffa sponge was possibly the most chall Growing a luffa sponge was possibly the most challenging and finicky thing I've taken on so far as a gardener in zone 3.  And all I got to show for it was 3 baby loofah sponges, which are so precious to me that I can't bare to actually use them. (Kind of defeats the point, doesn't it?)⁠⠀
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I'll be starting mine soon, so I though I would share some of the improvements to the growing process from last year.⁠⠀
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1. Plant in larger containers!! I thought I used large enough ones, but I sorely underestimated how big these plants would get indoors.  Once of my readers suggested buckets, and I think this is an excellent idea.⁠⠀
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2. Plant only 1 plant per container.  I thought loofah's would be like a cucumber or pumpkin or other vining squash where you plant in a hill.  The containers with two plants in them did not do as well as the single seed containers.⁠⠀
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3. Have a string for the vine to climb.  Cutting the vine off of my window screen was not fun.⁠⠀
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Will you try luffas this year?⁠⠀
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#luffasponge #loofahsponge #luffachallenge2012 #seedstarting #wintergardening #indoorgardening⁠⠀
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I've already started some lisianthus and eucalyptus, and am waiting on my seed orders to start some more.⁠
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If you're starting a luffa sponge, make sure you have some sort of eventual plan for the vine.  last year mine went over my fall windows before I was able to take them outdoors.⁠
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➡️It needs a long time to mature⁠
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I tend to plan it all out, and then when I actually get out in the field, so to speak, the plan changes a little bit. ⁠
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P.S. You can see exactly what you're getting in the video--no surprises. ⁠
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📸 by @blushbrandphotography
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🌶️Carmen⁠
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