Dream of Growing Coriander in the Balcony Garden and the Trouble with Sparrows

Hello dear friends,
I hope you all are doing well and spending a beautiful life with your loved ones. I wish you all happiness and peace.

It’s been almost three months since I moved into my current rented apartment. Overall, the place is quite good. Being right beside the main road makes commuting easy, and there are no problems with water or gas supply. But what I love the most is the balcony. It’s fairly spacious, and the outer side of the grill has enough space to keep plant pots.

My wife is a nature lover. When she came from the village, she brought along several clay pots and some soil. I filled up all the pots myself and planted different types of plants. In three pots, I planted water spinach (kalmi shak), in another three, I planted various flower plants, and in eight pots, I sowed coriander seeds. Now, both the flower plants and the water spinach have grown well—mashallah, it looks really nice.

But the real problem started with the coriander. I bought whole coriander seeds from the market, soaked them in water, dried them, and then sowed them carefully in the pots one evening. I was truly happy, thinking that soon I would be able to enjoy fresh coriander grown in my own balcony. But the next morning, I woke up to a terrible sight. A flock of sparrows, coming from the nearby mango trees, had dug up the soil in the pots and eaten all the coriander seeds. Not only that, they had scattered the soil all over, completely ruining the pots.

I didn’t give up. I gathered the soil again, added some fresh soil, and sowed coriander seeds once more. I thought maybe this time I’d succeed. But no—the next morning, the same thing happened again. Usually, I wake up around 7:30 a.m., but by then, the sparrows had already finished their job.

I felt helpless, not knowing what to do. It really hurts to see your own hard work being ruined like this.

Today at the office, I searched online and found some useful techniques to protect coriander from birds. If you ever face the same problem, you can try these methods too.

Ways to Protect Coriander Plants

To avoid this problem, you can follow some simple tricks. Protecting coriander seeds from birds is not that difficult; it just requires a little precaution.

1. Use a Net Cover
   Cover the coriander pots with a small mesh net. This way, sunlight and air will pass through, but birds won’t be able to reach the seeds. Old mosquito nets can also work.

2. Stick Protection Around the Pots
   Place small sticks or create a wooden frame around the pot. This makes it harder for birds to sit and dig into the soil.

3. Hang Shiny Objects
   Hang old CDs, aluminum sheets, or pieces of shiny plastic on the grill. These will reflect sunlight and move with the wind, scaring the birds away.

4. Temporary Covers
   After sowing the seeds, cover the pots with half-cut plastic bottles for a few days. Once the plants grow a bit, you can remove the covers.

5. Keep the Soil Moist
   Sprinkle some water on the soil at night or early in the morning. Wet soil is harder for birds to dig into.

Even a small balcony garden can bring immense joy. The sight of flowers blooming or vegetables growing from your own effort is truly priceless. But we must ensure that small challenges like bird disturbances don’t take away that joy. With just a little care, we can protect our coriander and other delicate plants.

I’ve now decided to cover my coriander pots with netting. Inshallah, this time the sparrows won’t be able to destroy them. Hopefully, very soon, my balcony will be filled with the fresh fragrance of homegrown coriander. 🌱