Experts Urge Homeowners to Hang Mirrors in Their Gardens This Spring for One Major Reason
As the dark months of winter close their shutters, smoothing the way for brighter sunlight, the spirit of springtime awakens and ushers in a bounty of possibilities in its colorful suitcase. Springtime calls for taking out all those plant pots and planting delicious blooms like roses, petunias, marigolds, sunflowers, snapdragons, zinnias, and pansies, to name a few. But no matter how poetic these flowery beauties might be, there are always those pesky little intruders who try to attack, suck, crush, or blemish them. The moment a new flower princess settles on its throne in the garden, these teeny-weeny snails, grasshoppers, mites, beetles, and slugs gather in armies and march towards the plant, intending to squeeze its essence away and leave it wilted and dead.
While a chemical spray or a lounge of lizards is enough to ward off these wiggly little creatures, there seems no way to shoo away those flocks of blue-grey pigeons. No matter how cute they seem, these fluffy birds often damage the spring plants as they peck and tear, or as they spend some playful moments fluttering here and there with their buddies, twitching their wings and kissing others’ beaks. That’s why gardeners these days have invented a cunning trick to deceive, disorient, and confuse these pigeons so they stay away from your balcony, terrace, or backyard garden. The trick: hang mirrors, as Landscape Gardening Expert, Marc Harbourne-Bessant shared with the Express.
The first thing mirrors do is create an illusion of additional space. "Using mirrors in your garden can create the illusion of additional space. It can also reflect planting to make it look like there are more plants in your garden,” Bessant said. Birkdale, a fencing company, told the same outlet, “Adding mirrors to your outdoor space will instantly make it feel bigger, just like it does inside your home too. Try adding a long row of mirrors on the wall or fence at the end of your garden. This will create the illusion that your garden is ‘doubled’ in length.”
Safeguard Pest Control UK explained the science behind how mirrors can psychologically manipulate pigeons into staying away from your plants. Like most reflective objects, since mirrors are shiny, the shine usually triggers a “flight response” in these birds, as a result of which, they don’t touch the plants and simply flutter away to another balcony. “Having a reflective surface on a window sill or balcony rail can easily deter a pigeon from roosting or perching there,” the website wrote.
Although there are several alternatives, such as placing a layer of shiny aluminium foil over the window sill or balcony or hanging a string of old CDs around the plants or coiling the plants with strings of fairy lights, nothing works like mirrors. Given that none of these things can reflect the light the way mirrors do, mirrors are arguably the best pigeon deterrent known to gardeners. Not only the best pigeon deterrent, but also a fabulous decoration to add an element of dimension to your outdoor décor. Bonus: an endless display of scintillating patterns of light!