If you've ever grown a vegetable patch or planted flowers from seeds then you know just how aggravating those pesky birds can be. To protect their plants, some gardeners will launch an all out attack, resorting to specialized flashy deterrents, vast areas of netting and row covers and generally cause a big fuss. Others will quietly erect a scarecrow.
Some unimaginative and humorless folks unceremoniously rig up a bunch of recycled plastic bags to make a scarecrow, and these in fact should work just fine at scaring crows. But doing that simply misses the point.
Scarecrows are an art form - they may range from folksy catch-as-catch-can hand-me-down homemade to high-falutin' country chic. Your own scarecrow can be as funky or as urbane as you care to make it. In some gardens, the "look" depends on who outgrew or outwore their clothes and whose hat was trampled the most. In other gardens the scarecrow is a more purely decorative venture using carefully selected components arranged just so to achieve the desired effect.
But in all instances they show someone's sense of humor and whimsy, a little bit of panache along with the utilitarian. The possibilities are endless; scarecrows can be used almost anywhere -- from the ornamental vegetable garden to the ordinary backyard ... or how about next to the front door?
The build and body type vary from scarecrow to scarecrow of course, depending on the underlying structure and on what forms the head. A sturdy wooden frame topped with a gourd is nice, or a stuffed pillowcase can make an especially expressive shape. But you could use an upended broom or an old basketball impaled on a metal post, too. Or even something totally different. And of course the height and pose are subject to whim and how high you can reach.
Some scarecrows are provided with props such as a trusty pitchfork or an old bucket. Some of the more elaborate come complete with motto: "Every Birdy Welcome" or "This Place Is For The Birds" or maybe even "Caw-ing All Gardeners". My all-time favorite though, is "Eat More Vegetables!"
Children always seem to enjoy scarecrows so much. Here's one take on live scarecrow care (I've always wondered about that, haven't you?) and here are more scarecrow impressions.
Go To Page: 1 2
| Here's the follow-up discussion on this article: | View all related messages |
For a complete listing of article comments, questions, and other discussions related to Barbara M. Martin's Cottage Garden topic, please visit the Discussions page.