table of contents
- Basic idea
- Building a scarecrow
- Required material
- Building a scarecrow: instructions
- frequently asked Questions
Just now your tree was full of delicious fruits and now there is nothing left? Birds were probably faster than you. Placing a scarecrow can help prevent such situations in the future. We show how you can easily build an effective scarecrow yourself.
In a nutshell
- imitate people
- Make a wooden frame from three slats
- Shape the head out of straw
- Dress and decorate as you wish
Basic idea
If you've just planted new seeds, there is a risk that birds will attack them and destroy the crops. Since all European Bird species after Art. 44 Federal Nature Conservation Act are protected, they must still not be injured, captured or killed. Scarecrows ensure that the birds do not even approach the seeds. They mostly imitate human or hostile silhouettes. Out of fear of people or the hostile outlines, the birds usually do not approach the seed. Next to it they are
- decorative element
- Cult symbol
Building a scarecrow
An effective scarecrow consists of the following elements:
- Basic structure
- Head and body
- Clothing and decoration
How exactly you ultimately design the parts depends on your personal discretion. If the scarecrow is to be particularly durable, you should choose a very stable base. The best way to do this is to:
- Shape the body out of rabbit wire and cover it with plaster bandages
- Fill burlap sacks with straw and fasten them with ropes around the entire frame
The location is also decisive for the further procedure. Scarecrows, which are only intended to protect a small balcony, are of course much smaller than scarecrows in the field.
Required material
Fortunately, you can also easily build larger scarecrows for the garden yourself. All you need is:
- 3 rough sawn wooden slats (approx. 2 meters, 1 meter and 50 centimeters)
- Screws
- straw
- Thread to tie
- Piece of burlap (approx. 80 x 80 centimeters)
- discarded clothing
- any decorative elements (straw hat, flowers, buttons, waterproof paint ...)
Tip: You can of course also use other items. How about an old shovel for your body or a soccer ball for your head? There are no limits to creativity here.
Building a scarecrow: instructions
When you have obtained the material, nothing stands in the way of construction. And this is how you do it:
- longest wooden slat pointed at one end (also possible in hardware stores)
- Attach the middle wooden lath across about 30 cm from the end of the long wooden lath so that a cross is created
- Attach a short wooden slat below as a "hip"
- Knock the wooden frame at least 30 cm into the earth at the desired location
- Shape the head of the scarecrow out of straw, put on sackcloth and fix with twine
- Dress up scarecrow (clothes should flap in the wind)
- Put the straw into the clothes as hands and fix with twine
- decorate as you wish
Tip: A combination of movement, light and bang effects is particularly effective. So add moving ribbons, reflective CDs, or rattling tin cans to your scarecrow.
In order to maintain the effectiveness of the scarecrow, you should also change the location and clothing of the dummy regularly. Otherwise the birds will get used to it and they will no longer be chased away by your gardening friend.
frequently asked Questions
In principle, all materials are available to you. However, you should keep in mind that some things could fly away in severe weather. Therefore, use predominantly natural materials and avoid plastic for the sake of the environment.
Yes. Scarecrows are available in brick-and-mortar stores as well as online. You will also find scarecrows there, which are modeled on birds of prey or other predators. However, the scarecrows you buy are less individual than self-made ones.
Yes. In the meantime, not only different shapes, but also completely new types of scarecrows are available. There are, for example, mini scarecrows or painted flower pots as scarecrows. However, these are mostly only used for decorative purposes.
