dslreports logo
 
    All Forums Hot Topics Gallery
spc
Search similar:


uniqs
126579

dark_star
join:2003-11-14
Louisville

dark_star

Member

Homemade solution to keep birds from eating grass seed?

I'm going to RoundUp my whole yard and reseed this Spring. I'll be using an expensive but excellent local seed blend from a local seed company.

Unfortunately, the seed isn't coated like some brands are to keep the birds away.

I've Googled this problem extensively, and found nothing that really meets my needs. Straw might help, but will introduce some weed seed (just a lot less than regular hay).

Biodegradable nets exist that would be perfect - except for the cost. $2000 or more for my one-third acre.

No one seems to sell any spray on coating to discourage birds from eating seed. I have thought of something like Red Hot sauce. I tried it last year on my tomato seedlings that were being decimated by rabbits, and the hot sauce killed the tomato seedlings wherever it touched (I sprinkled it on full strength).

Anyone know of any affordable commercial product, or have a successfully used homemade spray on solution to keep the birds from eating seed, without killing the seed?

nunya
LXI 483
MVM
join:2000-12-23
O Fallon, MO
·Charter

nunya

MVM

I wouldn't worry too much about the birds. There's no way they can eat all the seed before it germinates.
Raking the seed in a little (not too deep) might help some.
It's like krill and plankton. Survival in numbers. Most of your seed will survive the birds.

Pacrat
Old and Cranky
MVM
join:2001-03-10
Cortland, OH

Pacrat to dark_star

MVM

to dark_star
The birds will not eat enough for you to notice. It may appear they're consuming a lot, but, in reality, it's a drop in the bucket. I would use "clean" straw to help hold moisture, and to shade seedlings/sprouts. It also helps contain the seed in the event of a heavy rainfall. What little weed seed you might get will disappear with the first couple of mowings. It's not a big deal to get rid of. it may look a little unsightly at first but it's certainly not a major problem. Do not use hay! Use oat or wheat straw!
PrntRhd
Premium Member
join:2004-11-03
Fairfield, CA

PrntRhd to dark_star

Premium Member

to dark_star
I would recommend hydroseed for the application, it establishes itself quickly as it also applies fertilizer, water, mulch and seed. The mulch will keep the bird losses under control.

tmh
@verizon.net

tmh to dark_star

Anon

to dark_star
said by dark_star:

Anyone know of any affordable commercial product, or have a successfully used homemade spray on solution to keep the birds from eating seed, without killing the seed?

This


Lurch77
Premium Member
join:2001-11-22
Green Bay, WI

Lurch77 to dark_star

Premium Member

to dark_star
Use the cleanest straw you can get, and don't worry about weed seeds too much. When we built our home we seeded the entire lawn. Our contractor didn't use clean straw and we ended up with a lot of crabgrass. Since you use roundup, you are not opposed to using chemicals. I used Trimec Lawn Weed Killer very successfully and have one of the best lawns in our neighborhood now. Between keeping weeds at bay and other proper care our lawn looks even better than the guy down the street that used expensive sod when he built his home. It works better than Ortho Weed B Gone, and is cheaper. »www.pbigordon.com/homefa ··· UCTS=809

pike
Premium Member
join:2001-02-01
Washington, DC

1 edit

pike to dark_star

Premium Member

to dark_star
said by dark_star:

I have thought of something like Red Hot sauce.

Won't help anyway: birds are unaffected by capsaicin (the compound that makes peppers "hot").
said by dark_star:

I tried it last year on my tomato seedlings that were being decimated by rabbits, and the hot sauce killed the tomato seedlings wherever it touched (I sprinkled it on full strength).

It was probably the high acidity of the vinegar that killed the seedlings.

BTW - are you affiliated with the bar by the same name on Frankfort Ave? I lived in Louisville briefly from 2009-2010. Beautiful city.

Pacrat
Old and Cranky
MVM
join:2001-03-10
Cortland, OH

Pacrat to Lurch77

MVM

to Lurch77
The "rule of thumb" that I have always heard is to wait until after the second mowing of the lawn to apply any type of herbicides. I noticed in the link you posted for the Trimec that their directions call for just waiting until the grass is 2" tall. I think waiting for the second cutting is a more prudent route to take.

Trimec is effective and safe, as far as I have seen. The school where I used to volunteer utilized it many times without any apparent damage to their athletic fields.

dark_star
join:2003-11-14
Louisville

1 edit

dark_star to nunya

Member

to nunya
said by nunya:

I wouldn't worry too much about the birds. There's no way they can eat all the seed before it germinates.
Raking the seed in a little (not too deep) might help some.
It's like krill and plankton. Survival in numbers. Most of your seed will survive the birds.

The birds are quite ravenous in the spring. I know fall is a better time to reseed, but it doesn't work well for me. The seedlings don't survive the fallen leaves and the leaf removal.

I once tried some Spring seeding of bare spots, $20 or so worth of seed, and the birds ate almost every bit. Over 90% of the seed was eaten. There was very little improvement to the lawn. That said, I did not rake the seed in. No doubt, that would have helped.

I'm about to spend $250 on seed alone (plus the RoundUp, a power rake attachment for my mower, the expected water bill increase, and my time) and I don't want to repeat the earlier failure.
dark_star

1 edit

dark_star to tmh

Member

to tmh
said by tmh :

said by dark_star:

Anyone know of any affordable commercial product, or have a successfully used homemade spray on solution to keep the birds from eating seed, without killing the seed?

This


The Devil's Companion (aka "cat") does not seem to have helped the lawn in the photo much, if any at all.
dark_star

dark_star to Lurch77

Member

to Lurch77
said by Lurch77:

Use the cleanest straw you can get, and don't worry about weed seeds too much. When we built our home we seeded the entire lawn. Our contractor didn't use clean straw and we ended up with a lot of crabgrass. Since you use roundup, you are not opposed to using chemicals. I used Trimec Lawn Weed Killer very successfully and have one of the best lawns in our neighborhood now. Between keeping weeds at bay and other proper care our lawn looks even better than the guy down the street that used expensive sod when he built his home. It works better than Ortho Weed B Gone, and is cheaper. »www.pbigordon.com/homefa ··· UCTS=809

Thanks for the tip about Trimec. I will try it.

John97
Over The Hills And Far Away
Premium Member
join:2000-11-14
Spring Hill, FL

John97 to dark_star

Premium Member

to dark_star
Maybe go old-school and put up a scarecrow, or a few of those plastic garden owls?

dark_star
join:2003-11-14
Louisville

1 edit

dark_star to pike

Member

to pike
said by pike:

said by dark_star:

I have thought of something like Red Hot sauce.

Won't help anyway: birds are unaffected by capsaicin (the compound that makes peppers "hot").
said by dark_star:

I tried it last year on my tomato seedlings that were being decimated by rabbits, and the hot sauce killed the tomato seedlings wherever it touched (I sprinkled it on full strength).

It was probably the high acidity of the vinegar that killed the seedlings.

BTW - are you affiliated with the bar by the same name on Frankfort Ave? I lived in Louisville briefly from 2009-2010. Beautiful city.

Thank you much for that. I assumed the birds were probably affected by it, and I wondered if applying a greatly diluted Frank's Hot Sauce would repel the birds without killing the seed or seedlings.

Never heard of that bar. I'm just northeast of the Okolona area, and my business rarely takes me to the Frankfort Ave area. My nick is taken from the movie of the same name.

Glad you liked Louisville.

Msradell
Premium Member
join:2008-12-25
Louisville, KY

Msradell to dark_star

Premium Member

to dark_star
Rent a power seeder! They cut small slits and the seed falls into them. Germination starts quicker and the seeds are somewhat hidden from the birds.

dark_star
join:2003-11-14
Louisville

dark_star to John97

Member

to John97
said by John97:

Maybe go old-school and put up a scarecrow, or a few of those plastic garden owls?

I doubt if those would help. When I sit quietly in my back yard, after 20 or so minutes, the squirrels and birds ignore my presence.

Emptydarkone
Premium Member
join:2002-05-06
Springfield, IL

Emptydarkone to dark_star

Premium Member

to dark_star
In this area, you can cover 1/3 of an acre of ground with excelsior blanket (no seed in it) for about $800, or around .55/SY. I'm not sure what they charge for it in Louisville. That would be 17 8'X112.25' (90SY) rolls. Bio-degradable stakes are also available to hold it down.

I know of an erosion control supply company in your area that can get this for you if you're interested.

dark_star
join:2003-11-14
Louisville

dark_star to Msradell

Member

to Msradell
said by Msradell:

Rent a power seeder! They cut small slits and the seed falls into them. Germination starts quicker and the seeds are somewhat hidden from the birds.

Never heard of a power seeder, thanks for the suggestion. I Googled it and I'll look further into that.

I've already bought a power rake blade for my mower and I tried it out on a small patch. It does scalp the grass (even pre RoundUp) and loosen the bare dirt. Since grass seed can't be deeply buried, I think I could get a similar effect by lightly raking the seed into the loose soil. But it does look like a power seeder would be at least some - if not a lot - better than a power rake.
dark_star

dark_star to Emptydarkone

Member

to Emptydarkone
said by Emptydarkone:

In this area, you can cover 1/3 of an acre of ground with excelsior blanket (no seed in it) for about $800, or around .55/SY. I'm not sure what they charge for it in Louisville. That would be 17 8'X112.25' (90SY) rolls. Bio-degradable stakes are also available to hold it down.

I know of an erosion control supply company in your area that can get this for you if you're interested.

That is a lot cheaper than I could find it. But still more than I want to spend.
Moffetts
join:2005-05-09
San Mateo, CA

Moffetts to dark_star

Member

to dark_star
Lawn chair + case of beer + .22LR

davidg
Good Bye My Friend
MVM
join:2002-06-15
00000

davidg to dark_star

MVM

to dark_star
rake up the ground good before applying the seed, then again after applying it. water it in, and most of the seed will be out of reach of the birds.

to keep as many birds away as possible, set out a fake owl or hawk.

alkizmo
join:2007-06-25
Pierrefonds, QC

alkizmo to dark_star

Member

to dark_star
I've seen a farming research university (or whatever is the proper term for that kind of university) use nets suspended a foot over the soil.

It's a lot of work, but cheap.
rjgogo
join:2003-10-22

rjgogo to dark_star

Member

to dark_star
Ive seeded an acre, ran a drag harrow, then spread seed, then run chain link over it to get it in the dirt. It all came up good. Much better in the fall than in the spring however.

ptrowski
Got Helix?
Premium Member
join:2005-03-14
Woodstock, CT

ptrowski to dark_star

Premium Member

to dark_star
Typically straw and hay will introduced weeds you don't want. What you can use is called salt marsh hay. No seeds, no germination.

Draiman
Let me see those devil horns in the sky
join:2012-06-01
Kill Devil Hills, NC

Draiman to dark_star

Member

to dark_star
Have you thought about just hydroseeding the area? That helps keep the seeds in place and helps protect them from birds. Here it's around $.05/sf. That will save a lot of time as well.

dark_star
join:2003-11-14
Louisville

dark_star

Member

said by Draiman:

Have you thought about just hydroseeding the area? That helps keep the seeds in place and helps protect them from birds. Here it's around $.05/sf. That will save a lot of time as well.

I did consider hydroseeding. At five cents per square foot (looks like you forgot the link), it would be about $700 for my 1/3 acre of grass. Which is more than double what I'm paying for premium quality seed. Double cost is bad, but not necessarily a deal breaker.

The deal breaker for me is the seed. I want a particular seed from a local supplier. I used it in a few spots a few years ago, and grass it makes is wonderful. Appearance is excellent, much better than contractor grade seed (tall fescue in my area). It is very fine and soft like winter rye grass. It is very nicely green, even in the winter. It is very dense, and retains a high density, when heavily seeded.

Best of all, it grows slow and does not grow tall. Most of my grass needs mowing at least once a week, in the cutting season. This stuff is amazing in that respect. I often skip cutting the reseeded sections, they need cutting only every two or three weeks.

I've seen only two drawbacks to the seed I've chosen. The initial purchase price is higher, and it tolerates lawn weed killers less well than the rest of my lawn.

garys_2k
Premium Member
join:2004-05-07
Farmington, MI

garys_2k

Premium Member

I like the likely unwieldy idea of stretching a net a foot or so above the lawn, Easy to keep an eye on it and it would still keep the birds out. I have no idea on how much something like that would cost, though.

Snakeoil
Ignore Button. The coward's feature.
Premium Member
join:2000-08-05
united state

Snakeoil to Moffetts

Premium Member

to Moffetts
said by Moffetts:

Lawn chair + case of beer + .22LR

Pellet or BB gun if living in a subdivision.
PrntRhd
Premium Member
join:2004-11-03
Fairfield, CA

PrntRhd to dark_star

Premium Member

to dark_star
The hydroseed applicator you choose can use your specific premium seed in their tank mix.
The advantages to hydroseed: they do the labor, the mulch is completely weed-free, retains moisture & controls erosion, the fertilizer is already included and it will be done much quicker than you can do it yourself without renting a seed spreader/drill rig.

natedj
Elected
Premium Member
join:2001-06-06
Irmo, SC

natedj to dark_star

Premium Member

to dark_star
How about this. Its so crazy that it just might work.
Set up a few bird feeders in your back yard ... or the part of the yard where you're not trying to seed. So that the bird feeder will redirect them away from the seeds in the ground. If I was a bird I would go for the feeder instead of the ground. Oh, and it would be cheaper too.

Lurch77
Premium Member
join:2001-11-22
Green Bay, WI

Lurch77

Premium Member

People do that with squirrels all the time. Set up a squirrel feeder to keep them away from the bird feeders. Can't see why it wouldn't work in this situation to keep the birds away from the grass seed, at least to some degree.