Swiss Chard is a popular leafy green that many people grow in their gardens. These plants have a few pests you must watch out for, including birds. But how do you protect your Swiss Chard from bird attacks?
There are many methods you can use to help protect your Swiss Chard from birds. These methods include building a protective cover over the plants, making a scarecrow for your garden, placing fake predators in your garden, letting your pets chase the birds, using Terror eye balloons, and more!
Before you try to scare birds away, you need to be sure they are attacking your Swiss Chard, but how do you tell if they are? We will cover all there is to know about protecting your Swiss Chard from birds in this article!
Why Do Birds Eat Swiss Chard?
Swiss Chard is a common leafy vegetable that many gardeners love to grow, as they are fairly easy to grow and look after. Swiss Chard is also a relatively fast-growing plant, so you will be adding them to your fresh salads in no time.
Unfortunately, we are not the only things that love eating Swiss Chard. Many pests like aphids and other bugs enjoy munching on these big and colorful leaves. Many gardeners focus their energy on keeping their plants safe from bugs.
However, there is a different pest that most people aren’t aware of until it’s too late. This pest is birds. Birds love to eat Swiss Chard as it’s a great way for them to supplement their diets with added vitamins and minerals that they might be struggling to find elsewhere.
This can be a frustrating problem for any gardener to face, as getting rid of birds that are eating your Swiss Chard is slightly more challenging than keeping your plants safe from bugs. Especially in some instances, when the birds seem to swarm the Swiss Chard and eat it until nothing is left.
How To Tell If Birds Are Attacking Your Swiss Chard
We all need to remember that just because there are birds around your Swiss Chard and swooping into your vegetable garden doesn’t mean the birds are eating it.
There are many reasons the birds could be entering your Swiss Chard garden, including eating other pests and worms there. In this case, the birds are helping your Swiss Chard survive and grow. So, how do you know if birds are eating your Swiss Chard or not?
To determine if the birds are eating your Swiss Chard or not, you need to go and have a close look at the leaves of your Chard. If the leaves have missing pieces in them that are at an angle, like a bird’s beak, then this is a good indication that the birds are eating the leaves.
However, if the holes are round and are closer to the center of the leaves, then it’s more likely that other pests are eating the leaves, and the birds are eating these other pests.
9 Methods To Prevent Birds From Eating Your Swiss Chard
If you have found that birds are eating your Swiss Chard leaves, don’t worry, as there are methods you can utilize to help scare the birds away and protect your beloved plants. Most of these methods are relatively easy to set up and will start protecting your plants immediately.
However, some of these methods will require slightly more time and equipment to set up but will also protect your Swiss Chard as soon as they are up. The method you choose to use will depend on the equipment you have available.
So, let’s go through the methods you can use to help protect your Swiss Chard from birds to ensure you choose the right method for you.
1. Make A Protective Cover For Your Swiss Chard
The first thing you can do to help protect your Swiss Chard from birds is to build a protecting cover for your plants. This will go over the plants in an arch to give the plants space to grow while preventing birds from getting close to the leaves.
You can build a frame for your cover with PVC pipes and some wood or buy a kit from your local gardening store with everything you need to put together the frame and cover.
Then you can choose whether you want the cover to be cloth or net. Netting will allow a lot more sun through and makes it easier to water your Swiss Chard. Both will protect your Swiss Chard from birds well.
2. Use Terror Eyes Balloons
If you don’t want to build a cover for your Swiss Chard or don’t have access to the cover kits, then you can try some terror eyes balloons to keep your Swiss Chard safe. These balloons are readily available and work pretty well at chasing birds away from your garden to keep your plants safe.
Terror eyes balloons are large inflatable yellow balls with “eyes” printed on them. If you hang these balloons in your garden, any slight breeze will make the balloons move. This movement, along with the eyes on the balloons, will scare the birds away from your Swiss Chard.
3. Place Plastic Predators Around Your Garden
Another great method you can use to help protect your Swiss Chard from birds is to place plastic predators around your garden. You will need to identify the type of birds attacking your Swiss Chard and then do further research to identify the bird’s natural predators.
Once you have found their predator, you can purchase a plastic replica of the predator and place it in your garden. For best results using this method, you should move the plastic predator around your garden daily to give the illusion that it’s alive.
4. Make A Small Scarecrow For Your Garden
If you have extra sticks lying around your garden, you can make a scarecrow to help protect your Swiss Chard from birds. The scarecrow doesn’t need to be the size of a human to work, but you can make it a few feet tall.
You can use some wire to hold the sticks in a human form and then place some old clothes over the sticks to give the illusion that someone is in the garden. For best results with this method, you need to move the scarecrow around your garden once a day so that it seems like it’s alive.
5. Use Mirrors, Foil, Or CDs To Scare Birds Away
If you have some old CDs or small mirrors, you can use these to help chase the birds away from your Swiss Chard. If you don’t have these two items, then you can use aluminum foil in the same way. You can use some string to hang old CDs, small mirrors, or foil around your Swiss Chard.
When the wind blows, it will make the mirrors, CDs, or foil move, which will scare the birds. These will also reflect sunlight as they move, creating flashes of light, which will also help scare birds away from your Swiss Chard.
6. Install Some Garden Spinners
Garden spinners are ornaments you see at garden stores with a little fan that spins in the wind. These are relatively easy to find, and you can install them with little effort. As the wind blows in your garden, the spinner fan will suddenly move, scaring the birds away.
These great little ornaments add some color and whimsy to your garden, as they come in many different sizes and shapes, and they will help you with your bird problem too.
7. Place Windchimes Near Your Swiss Chard
Another great way to add some whimsy to your garden and help scare away the birds eating your Swiss Chard is to hang up some wind chimes near the Chard. The best wind chimes to scare birds away are those made from shiny metals.
These wind chimes will move in the wind and reflect the sunlight creating flashes of light around your Swiss Chard, which will scare the birds away.
8. Cover Your Swiss Chard With A Stick Garden
If you have many sticks lying around your garden, you can use them to create a stick garden to help protect your Swiss Chard from bird attacks. You can pile the sticks up and around your Swiss Chard, which will have two effects on birds.
Firstly, when birds are flying, they won’t be able to see the Swiss Chard through all the sticks. When the birds are on the ground, the sticks will make it difficult for them to reach the plants, making them give up and go and find easier food.
9. Let Your Pets Chase The Birds
If you have pets that love to chase birds, this is their time to shine. Your pets can help protect your Swiss Chard from birds by chasing them away. If you see birds around your plants, simply let your dog or cat out to chase them off.
If you are worried about your pet trampling your Swiss Chard, you can train them to avoid your plants while they chase the birds, or you can create a few paths between the plants and train them to use these.
Conclusion
Swiss Chard is a popular leafy green that is loved by many, so many choose to grow it in their gardens. However, birds can become a nuisance as they begin snacking on your Swiss Chard, affecting the growth of the leaves.
Luckily, several procedures can be used to protect your Swiss Chard from birds. The methods in this article are easy; hopefully, they help you scare the birds away so your Swiss Chard can grow big and strong. Good luck chasing away the birds!
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