[Elaine G]

Find a friend who takes their suits to the dry cleaners, and ask for their metal hangers.
My son in law provides me with lots!
These cut up nicely to make pegs to hold down netting and such like, and cost nothing

Elaine

[mr Isaccs]

air rifle???

There is a newplot holder on our site who goes down at 6 am with his air rifle and shoots pigeons, there's always feathers all over the place and on a couple of ocasions I have seen the dead bodies of the birds lying on the ground where they have fallen from the sky.
   I do not agree with the shooting of animals especially if they are not for consumption, surely it is up to us gardeners to protect our crops in a humain way, there has also been a pheasant that romes our plot doing no harm and I thought I hadn't seen it for a while then I spotted it dead on this chaps compost heap

[JayG]

I have temporarily stopped filling up my mixed seed feeder because the sparrows and tits are so "picky" most of it finishes up on the ground where up to 5 wood pigeons at a time feast merrily away. (I keep the nyger seed and peanut feeders topped up though as these are of little interest to pigeons)

Far fewer visiting wood pigeons as a result but this is really an observation rather than a cunning plan and may well backfire, as they might well be even more likely to attack vulnerable crops! 

[8doubles]

air rifle???

There is a newplot holder on our site who goes down at 6 am with his air rifle and shoots pigeons, there's always feathers all over the place and on a couple of ocasions I have seen the dead bodies of the birds lying on the ground where they have fallen from the sky.
   I do not agree with the shooting of animals especially if they are not for consumption, surely it is up to us gardeners to protect our crops in a humain way, there has also been a pheasant that romes our plot doing no harm and I thought I hadn't seen it for a while then I spotted it dead on this chaps compost heap

Although i do not shoot pigeon during the breeding season bear in mind that they are a major pest species. I think the last figures were 6,000,000 shot anually leaving a steady population of 6 million birds.
I have to ask what the pheasant was coming to the allotment for.

[doubledug]

if you use the 25mm blue pipe with netting over it harrods horticultural sell plastic hoop clips that secure the netting to the pipes, also 20% off today if you use code  may20.
you can also use canes laid along the length off your bed over the netting and peged down.works a treat    

[mr Isaccs]

[/quote]
I have to ask what the pheasant was coming to the allotment for.
[/quote]
   I think the guy who had my plot a few years back used to keep pheasant and there was always rich pickings of jerusalem artichoke, I don't know if the pheasant remembers or not

[Comfortably Numb]

if you use the 25mm blue pipe with netting over it harrods horticultural sell plastic hoop clips that secure the netting to the pipes, also 20% off today if you use code  may20.
you can also use canes laid along the length off your bed over the netting and peged down.works a treat    

I use cheap plastic cable ties for this. One at the top and one each side near the bottom. You can then slide the netting up for easy access 

[pairofacres]

there has also been a pheasant that romes our plot doing no harm and I thought I hadn't seen it for a while then I spotted it dead on this chaps compost heap

When exactly did he shoot it? It's only legal to shoot Pheasant Oct 1 - Feb 1. It's also a shameful waste to shoot one and put it on a compost heap! If he shot it outside the season, I'd call the local police station and have a quiet word with the local firearms licensing officer. I'm not averse to shooting, but its irresponsible shooting like this which has lead to the current tougher licensing rules for responsible gun owners.

[mr Isaccs]

It was only about 4 weeks age Pairofacres so definately out of season, I think I will have a word with the culprit first and give him a chance to mend his ways and if it continues I shall have a world with the allotment comitee secretary.

[Livinhope]

We have some weird and ingenious contraptions to stop pigeons on our allotments.  There are cages made from canes, metal framework, metal water pipes and unused gazebo frames etc.  We have bought a considerable amount of small meshed plastic netting to cover a no longer used gazebo frame.  This way a doorway can be made and it is possible to stand upright when inside.  The 10 foot base should be enough to cover most of our cabbages.