Hi Tui, this year we have a problem with birds (mainly Californian Quail) eating the tops of beans, carrots, radishes and any other green vegetable that takes their fancy. This has never occurred before. Is there a solution other than covering the whole garden? Thanks.

Hi Gordon, the quail population in your area must have expanded and so now you have a problem. The obvious deterrent would be to use bird netting to keep them away. People try all sorts of things that blow in the wind such as tin foil trays, old CDs, shiny humming tape, but worth a try might be a large blow up owl or large balls with eyes painted on them, you can get these from farm merchants as they are used in vineyards. Garden centres used to sell scary cats - cat faces with eyes that moved as bird deterrents, I don't know if they are still available. You could try whirling garden spinners, they have ornamental/novelty value and work for a while but now the birds are used to it. Tie plastic (or similar) bags to stakes that will flutter in the wind and scare the birds off. You could try feeding the birds with Tui Wild Bird seed in another area of the garden and hope that keeps them away from the vegetable garden. Creating a barrier of twigs and sticks around the plants may work until the plants are established. I hope there are some helpful tips here. The Tui Team.