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Vandalism of the polytunnel

I have never considered polytunnels to be ideal for carnation culture as adequate ventilation is often difficult and the polythene tends to become opaque with time. However they are useful structures if one is likely to move frequently as they are cheap and relatively easy to take with you. Over the years I have had a number of them.

In recent years I have not had one prefering glass and aluminium for my carnations. However five years ago I had a disasterous attack of blight to my outdoor tomatoes so I bought a polytunnel for them in the summer. During the winter and early part of the year it has proved to be of use to house surplus carnations.

A few months after erecting the structure I was alarmed to find small holes appearing in the polythene. Each day there were one or two more. I purchased some repair tape but still new holes came. I started to worry. What was the cause? Was the tunnel being targeted by someone with an air rifle? Could something be blown from surrounding trees? It was a complete mystery. But increasingly I kept thinking “Was this vandalism? Was someone deliberately damaging the polytunnel?”

At this rate before long the cover would be irreparably damaged. I had never before had this problem. Careful inspection revealed the holes to be not round but V shaped.

Then one day I noticed a young seagull sitting on the roof. (I live only two miles from the sea). Every so often it would peck the polythene. I had found the culprit!

The solution was rather amateurish and is shown below. Fixing a cane to posts screwed to the door frames at each end, I then ran some orange nylon string in a criss cross fashion along the top. Over the next couple of days I noticed the bird descending to land, only to find the strings in its way. Since then it has not returned.

I do not know whether others have had this problem but if they have, would be interested to know how they have dealt with it. You can reply on the Forum. There is a new section comments on the website where you can leave anything relating to articles on this site.