Protecting Blueberries/strawberries.

Hello everyone.

I know that when these 2 plants are in full fruiting, they must be protected from the birds. I've noticed already that the birds have got to my blueberry bushes. We must have had a small handful turning purple, and we woke up this morning, they WERE GONE!! :(

We did buy netting last year which is very poor quality.
My blueberry bushes must be 1m in height. I would like advice on netting/ frames to cover my plants/bushes from.

 

I've read recently that it's not just ripe berries that birds will go after...they will also take unripe fruits too and I saw a blackbird taking unripe raspberries just yesterday.

You can fling a net over a bush to protect it from birds which will work to a degree although a fellow plot holder at our allotments has told me she watched the birds finding their way under it..then becoming trapped inside.

A couple of years ago I made a strawberry bed which is netted as photo below, the tops are removable for picking/weeding.



This year on the allotment I will be making one of these again but 6-7ft tall with a door to get in to pick/prune/weed.

Steve...

 

I don't have the space in the garden to build a huge cage.
Also with 2 young children running around the garden, a low cage which you have isn't ideal :/

I've put 2 blueberry bushes in the garage. Sunlight can get in to some extent.

 

I've been looking for a toy cat in the charity shops. Don't think i'd get away with the cat on a rope idea from the Victorian Kitchen Garden:DOH:

I erected the base of my tower scaffold around the Gooseberry this year & secured a net over it with bricks.

First year we've had a decent crop, blackbird always had em before.

 

Also, my blueberries and strawberries are in pots.
Huge terracota pots.

 

Just match the structure to the size you require, at the very least you can throw a net over your plants..some protection is better than none. This is what I did this year with my blackcurrants. Its not ideal, but it works. I used scaffold debris netting for this.



Sorry for the poor photo quality, I didn't take a direct photo of this...but cropped it out of the background of another much wider shot.

Steve...

 

I use netting with about 1/2" mesh, just drape it over and weight with stones or pull in round the bush. Not perfect but better than nothing, and I don't mind sharing... it's when the lot disappears that I get cross!
My grandson [just 3] is worse than the birds. He snaffles the strawberries, tomatoes and even broccoli. His favourite is peas. and does anyone else have trouble with suirrels eating the broad beans?

 

Thank you for all your ideas.
My next door neighbour spotted me trying to drape a netting over my bushes and said that if I tied string to posts, then thread some kitchen foil through it. It works wonders.

I've tried this and I have to say, it works. We now have a good clump of purply/blue coloured blueberries and no birds go near them.

Easy and cheap lol.