I had the same thing happen to me involving a rabbit's foot fern. Although I enjoyed watching the parents raise the 3 little chicks, my fern suffered for it. What I did this year was to suspend sea shells above the hanging basket from the bracket with fishing line. They move and clatter in the breeze. My returning parents have had a look, but so far no nests. I do keep a few birdhouses along my fence as alternatives. It may be worth a try.

In the past I have grown yard-long beans along the back row against my wooden fence and allowed them to run up strings attached to the fence by nails. This next growing season, I plan to use containers attached to the top of the rence to grown them down, instead of up. My current plan is to use gallon milk jugs with the shoulder opposite the handle cut out. I will run a wooden rod through the handles and suspend the jugs on the rod by attaching to ends of the rod to the fence posts. I will drill five 1/2 inch holes in the bottom of the jugs; place rocks in the bottom of the jugs to prevent loss of soil; and fill the jugs with my potting soil mix of 1 part garden soil, 1 part top soil, a cup of worm castings, and 1/2 cup of vermiculate. I will plant 3 seeds per jug and train the plants to trail over the sides. When the plants reach the soil I will prune them to prevent exposure to deseases. When I posted this on the vegetable gardening site, I was advised that 3-4 seeds was excessive; that worm castings were not suited for beans; to use potting soil vice my soil mixture; and that the jugs would probably deteriorate during the season. I chose not to build a potting box due to the cost of durable wood such as cedar or redwood. Any advice on an alternative to the jugs or the expensive wood?

Hey Denise - I'm not sure what size white pots you were looking for but today at Walmart they had white hanging pots (I believe 8") with pansies marked down to $2.00 I bought a few and will keep the pansies until I need the pot. They also had 5" black hanging pots with pathos for $5. I bought a few of those and plant to repot the pathos and use the hanging pots fir Hoyas. I thought the prices were good since you get a plant and don't have to pay shipping. I just thought I would mention it if anyone is interested. I can take photos of the pots tomorrow.

I know you're looking for a mesh - another approach: we have something very similar to this in our tiny, no-storage kitchen. What I really like about it is that with S-hooks just about anything can be hung from it, plus the lids fit in behind the rods so they're handy but out of the way (you can see one lid in the example pic)