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problem sparrows
lyn jones
Posts: 15
I have a problem with sparrows I will be putting out my runner beans at the end of may they fly down and peck at the flowers and ruing my crop can anyone help me get rid of them they are a nuisance they peck at every thing in the garden.
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Posts
I'd say a good netting or similar protective barrier is the solution - it'll be hard to get rid of the birds.
You are lucky to have sparrows in your garden. Many people once had them and no longer do and wish they did. Learn to live with them. It is an offence to "get rid of them" as you put it.
How about putting some food out for them? Would stop them pecking at your veg and they would also eat any little nasty bugs
Please - if you use netting - ensure that it is tight and secured .......
and they have been recently 'red-listed' as a species of conservation concern.
Mine are very happily collecting all the mealworms they can for the nestlings in the 'dormitory' wing
How odd - we have house sparrows but they don't touch our runner beans (or any other garden plants that I've noticed). Ours are happy eating the Robin blend seed mix in the bird feeders on the fence by the Clematis Freckles. They don't touch the clematis flowers either.
Try growing white flowered runners - they are reputedly less prone to bird attack.
White Emergo is a variety I've grown in the past and found them well flavoured and crop well.
As has been said, House sparrows are in serious decline nationwide and are on the RSPB's red list.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Sparrows ate all my cherry plum blossom apart from a few they missed at the bottom this year.
I'd rather have the sparrows. It's good to see them back after many years. but I suppose l might have a different perspective if I was trying to grow a crop.
One year all of my jasmine flowers ended up on the ground because of that bee/wasp or whatever that steals the nectar from behind.
Sparrows also used to attack the buds on my clematis. I netted them over and now problem free. No birds caught in the netting either thankfully. If needs be I'll do the same with the runner beans, although no problem with them in the past.
Thank you all for you'r feedback some very good imformation I will have to try the white flowering variety runner bean and redwing you are welcome to my sparrows see how you would feel about them then.when they ruin you'r garden.
I have a colony of sparrows! I feed them and further encourage them with nest boxes which they mostly ignore in favour of the hedges. They do like my hyacinth flowers though but I can live with that.
I've recently put some seed out for them in containers hanging from my hawthorn tree see if this will discourage them from the beans.