My Science School

•  Help birds to build nests

To attract birds to your garden in spring (they will happily feast on leaf-eating insects when not eyeing up your vegetables or fruit in summer), hang some nest-building materials in a tree. Fill a large, mesh onion bag with lint from a tumble-drier, hair from a hairbrush, fabric scraps and short pieces of string or wool. Then watch your feathered visitors fashion a new home.

•  A real flap

If you're in a windy spot and are trying to discourage birds from landing on garden plants, cut plastic rubbish bags into 'flags' or long strips and staple them to tall wooden stakes using a staple gun. When the plastic whips around in the wind, birds will be scared away by both the movement and the noise. Hanging up old CDs also frightens them off.

•  Scarecrow stuffers

If you decide to put a traditional stand-up, hatted scarecrow in your vegetable plot (as much for nostalgia as anything else), be aware that the stuffing materials for his shirt and pants are probably already in your home somewhere.

Anything soft and pliable will do as long as you seal it into a plastic garbage bag to keep it dry: old pillows, rags, wadded-up newspaper, bubble wrap, polystyrene packing chips, shower curtains or dust cloths. And don't forget old-fashioned hay, straw and dead leaves.

•  Guard garden plants with garlic

Encircling a flowerbed or vegetable plot with garlic plants will discourage many furry pests —including bush rats and field mice — from making a meal of your plants. Space the garlic about 15cm apart to ward off hungry intruders.

•  Possum chasers

Possums are a major problem for gardeners in some areas, and are particularly destructive to roses. Make a tea with 1 litre hot water poured over either 2 tablespoons crushed garlic or crushed hot chilli. Allow to stand overnight, then filter and decant into a spray bottle. Spray onto foliage and repeat after any rain. Other repellents to try include:

1.  Fish fertilizer sprayed at recommended strength.


2.  Blood and bone sprinkled around bushes and trees.


3.  A paste made of Vaseline and a crumbled block of camphor (used as a moth repellent in household cupboards) applied to stems.

•  Rabbit rebuffers

Plenty of repellents will turn rabbits away from your plants. Among those to try are:

1.  Hair from humans, dogs or cats.


2.  Talcum powder, dried chilli flakes or garlic powder, dusted around plants.


3. Bars of strongly fragranced soap placed in vegetable garden rows.


4.  Lemon peel scattered among plants.

•  Flag down deer

Deer have become a nuisance in parts of New Zealand and Australia. However, white 'flags' made from white plastic shopping bags, rags or strips torn from old T-shirts could help to keep them out of vegetable gardens. The movement of something white mimics the deer's warning signal — flashing the white underside of its tail — that predators or other dangers are imminent.

Hammer 60-90cm-tall stakes around your plot at 2-m intervals. Tack plastic shopping bags to the stakes so that they billow in the wind or attach white fabric strips that are long enough to flutter in the breeze. If you're lucky, deer will run the other way when the white flags fly.