Organic Gardener's Companion by Jane Shellenberger

Author:Jane Shellenberger
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Fulcrum Publishing
Published: 2011-11-23T05:00:00+00:00

Keeping birds off of strawberries is a must. Low chicken-wire enclosures or even casually laid fencing a few inches above the bed will work.

You can also purchase bird netting. But in my experience, unless you have poles or a structure of some kind that keeps the netting off the tree, the typical ½- to ¾-inch netting available at hardware and home-improvement stores or online can create as much of a problem as it solves. Birds always get snagged in it, and then you have to catch them while they’re desperately flailing around and cut them free, and often the tangled net has injured them. Shiny metallic strips or wind ornaments that dance even in light breezes will keep birds at bay to some extent, and the iridescent types work the best. Scarecrows help a little and if you want to get elaborate about it, there are even some with metallic strips attached that move periodically to scare birds.

Tighter-weave netting that birds can’t get stuck in is a much better solution if you’re planning to put it right on the tree. Light shade cloth could even work. Grapes can be more problematic to cover because they grow so large and wander so far. In early summer, I put a shade cloth covering on the top of my open deck where grapes grow up on the east side. I use it for shade, not to keep the birds away, but it ends up preventing many of them, though not all, from swooping in on all sides to eat the grapes. I love shade cloth! It comes in different gradients (20 percent shade, 30 percent, and so forth), in nonfraying rolls. You can cut it to the size you want and easily punch plastic grommets into the corners and edges for easy tying onto deck rafters or posts—wherever you want to create some light shade. It’s very versatile and easy to work with, and I like the simple, breezy look of it too.

Snakes

It’s illegal to kill snakes in Colorado. They are extremely important for keeping rodents under control and almost always beneficial to humans. Nevertheless, plenty are killed. One summer I had a couple of strapping young cowboys help me load hay. When they noticed a sleepy 4-foot bullsnake, they had to catch it, but it hissed at them and tried to strike (if all you had to defend yourself was a mouth, you would too) and struggled to get away. Unfortunately their reaction was to kill it immediately, and they didn’t stop talking about it all day. I think they expected me to be pleased instead of appalled.

A garter snake is the only one you’ll probably ever encounter in your yard. It stays slender, rarely grows longer than 3 feet, and likes to live near water, which is why it is attracted to irrigated gardens. Domestic cats are significant predators of snakes and will sometimes bring them into the house unharmed if you have a cat door. The plains garter snake has a bright yellow or orange stripe from its head to its tail along the middle of its back.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.