With proper care, netting should last for several seasons. When the first hint of color starts to darken blueberries, it's time for blueberry netting. Blueberry plant protection may involve more than one tactic. Larger mesh also allows pollinators to reach any remaining blossoms. Use a scaffolding erected around your bushes to hold the netting. You can buy it in 3 foot pieces at Farm and Fleet, or 20 footers at a steel supply outlet. Since the netting was only put on at harvest, the plants are accessible to deer or rabbits the rest of the year. What’s the easiest way to cover blueberry bushes in a 12x12 area to protect them from birds? Use small mesh netting (1/4″) to drape individual plants. At Rich's place, he uses 4 foot tall chicken wire fencing (one high and one low, with overlap) to wrap all the way to the top of his enclosure. Cannons, gunfire, firecrackers, taped noises, radios, you name it, have all been tried. He came up with a great way to protect his blueberries and still have easy access to the plants. The birds are happy to eat the berries before they're completely ripe, so don't wait too long to add bird protection. Protecting blueberry plants from birds with netting can be as simple as draping netting over the bushes or building an actual reverse aviary. The birds love blueberries, and got smart as time went on. *As noted in the post about keeping deer out of the garden, deer need room to land when they jump over a fence. Most of them are just that, claims. Notify me of followup comments via e-mail. The call of hawks does seem to work for a time but blueberries ripen over such a long period, the birds eventually get used to the sound and go back to gorging on the berries. As far as the netting goes, that’s all there is to it. After the harvest is finished for the season, remove the netting. An example of this is an owl model that is powered by a solar cell, and shrieks at intervals. ONLY bring them out right when the berries are starting to ripen. Otherwise, to create a reverse aviary, use 7-foot bamboo poles or the like to create a structure that surrounds the blueberries and then cover that with netting. Larger mesh also allows pollinators to reach any remaining blossoms. Several years ago, we planted a long row of blueberries to mark the edge of our display garden. With that in mind, consider building a blueberry cage. You can also cover maturing corn ears with paper bags, and lay garden fabric over germinating seedlings to foil the birds. How do I protect blueberry bushes from birds? on May 25, 2019. Exclusion just means you’re going to prevent the birds from entering the blueberry patch by means of netting. Reply. We use Bird-X netting with 5/8″ mesh, because it's available locally. He says: I like the 3/4 square tube to clamp to the post, because it won't turn and the 3/8 solid round to go inside the conduit. Filed Under: Gardening Tagged With: bird protection, blueberries, blueberry netting, growing blueberries. If you do it when the bush is in bloom, you’re in danger of damaging them and with no flowers you get no fruit. Bird Barriers. You may have even lost the battle and thrown in the towel. Move them around every few days. There are a few ways to protect your blueberry plants from being picked clean by birds, and most of them involve placing netting over the top of the bush to eliminate access. Side supports are “T” shaped, with the base down and one “arm” to each side. This method works easiest if your blueberry bushes are in a row, although it can be done with individual or widely-spaced plants, just use a couple of pipe hoops and separate sheets of netting for each blueberry bush. Near harvest time, she'd cover each bush with blueberry netting. In my experience, only netting works. Using sound judgment to be more self-reliant. I got a chance to talk to Rich and get a little more information on the welded connecting pieces. This keep the wild rabbits at bay in winter. July 20, 2019 By Laurie Neverman 1 Comment This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission. You can also subscribe without commenting. Carefully drape the netting over the bush or stretch of bushes and tuck the edges around all of the fruit. The downside of this is that while it does indeed repel birds, it increases the incidence of Japanese beetles and yellow jackets. Picking your berries from inside an enclosure or under netting can be inconvenient, but netting isn't the only form of protection for blueberry bushes. … In this post, we share a combination of blueberry netting and blueberry cage tips to protect plants year round from deer, birds, squirrels and other wildlife. The area had always been planted with daffodils, so it was glorious in … However, many blueberry growers find that birds can be clever and the simple method of draping netting over blueberry bushes doesn't keep the birds at bay. Your email address will not be published. There are also other products available that claim to keep the birds from crops. Measure your blueberry plants, high and wide, and take these measurements to the store. It’s time to take back your blueberry bushes by protecting the blueberry plants from the birds. Growing up on the farm, mom had several large blueberry bushes that produced reliably each year. These posts go in every 5 or 10 feet, so you can connect them with  10 foot lengths of metal electrical conduit. Answer + 2. For longer life, you can clamp it to the post with hose clamps instead of zip ties,  because the ties will weather and break. Round stock in place at bay in winter in hoops over the bushes or building actual... 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