Plastic Bird Spikes

Using Fruit Netting to Protect Your Garden

There are few things more frustrating in life than waiting months for your fruit to mature and ripen on the tree only to watch in despair as it gets devoured by birds before you can pick it.  This is a problem that many people face, and it happens with not only fruit trees, but also gardens as well.  If you think you have no choice but to just sit there and watch in vain while a flock of flying birds eats your entire cherry tree, think again.  We humans have a few tricks up our sleeve as well, and one of our best options is to use something called fruit netting.

Like other bird deterrents, fruit nets are designed to go over your entire tree, preventing birds and other flying critters from getting at your fruit.  While not 100% effective, it will sure help a lot.  You see, the birds will still be able to land on the tree, sitting on top of the net.  They will see the sweet cherries or other fruit and want to eat it, but they will only be able to snack on whatever they can pick through the holes in the net.  Yes, some of your fruit will have a few bites taken out of it, but that is certainly preferable to the entire crop.

If you want to use bird netting for fruit trees, the best thing to do is measure how big of an area you will need, and then buy a net accordingly.  Most of these fruit nets come in dimensions of either 14 feet by 14 feet or 28 feet by 28 feet.  There are others as well, and you can buy a few of the smaller ones and use them together if you want.  The best thing to do is wrap your bird net around the tree, covering the fruit, and then use plastic ties or wire to hold the net firmly in place so it doesn't blow away or unravel in the wind.

Another location that fruit netting works great in is gardens.  You might not know it, but birds will eat lots of things in your garden.  Most people know that they love to snack on tomatoes, strawberries, and other sweet things, but they also like some vegetables as well.  In fact, it is not uncommon for birds to go through the rows of your freshly planted garden eating all of the little shoots that just sprouted, before they even get a chance to grow.  Since you don't want this to happen, getting fruit netting is an inexpensive way to prevent this from happening.

One of the best ways to do it is to make a little cage around the area you want to protect.  It doesn't need to be big enough for you to walk in, just a foot high or so is fine.  Use bamboo stakes or any other kind, and wrap the bird netting around it, making a little cage.  This works great for both maturing fruits like berries, or for freshly planted rows.  Once the vegetables have grown a bit, you can usually remove the net.  Fruit cage netting is the same as any other net, but you just use stakes or fence posts with it.