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Garden Netting That Actually Stopped Birds From Stealing My Blueberries
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items Spent three summers watching birds eat my berries before I got a single handful. Tried scarecrows, shiny tape, fake owls. Nothing worked. This is everything I finally pieced together to actually protect my berry bushes, fruit trees, and raised beds. ...
Sections
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Bird Netting for Berry Bushes
Netting Support Frames and Hoops
Ground Stakes and Clips for Securing Netting
Fruit Tree Netting and Covers
Visual Bird Deterrents That Actually Work
Insect and Pest Mesh for Berries
Bird Netting for Berry Bushes
Lost an entire blueberry harvest in 2022 because I waited too long to cover them. These nets go up fast and actually keep birds out without trapping them.
Throw this over your blueberry row the second you see fruit forming. Waited two days last year and birds had already found them. The mesh is tight enough that even small sparrows can't squeeze through.
Bird Netting for Garden, 13 x 33Ft Anti Bird Net with 30 Ties
Use this if you've got a bigger patch to cover. Cut it to size with regular scissors. Covered my entire 20-foot raspberry row and still had leftover for the strawberry bed.
Agfabric Garden Bird Netting Anti Bird Protection Net Fruit
Grab the heavy duty version if deer also mess with your garden. A regular net ripped when a doe pushed into my blackberry bushes. This one held up through two seasons of animal pressure.
VIVOSUN Anti Bird Netting 7.5' x 65' Heavy Duty Garden
Perfect for someone who just planted their first berry bush and doesn't want to overthink it. Draped it right over my single highbush blueberry and secured it with clothespins. Done in five minutes.
Dalen Bird X Protective Mesh Netting
Keep this one in your shed for emergency coverage. Found birds pecking my cherries on a Tuesday morning, had this up by lunch. The green color blends in so your yard doesn't look like a construction site.
RibRave 33 x13 Ft Bird Netting for Garden Tree and Plant
Pair this with ground stakes if wind is a problem in your area. First time I used netting without staking it down, a gust blew it off and three robins had a party. Lesson learned.
Bird Netting 6.8 x 100 FT
Switch to this if you've been buying the cheap dollar store stuff that shreds after one season. Reused mine for three years running and it still looks fine.
Aspectek Bird Netting Protective Fencing for Gardens
Netting Support Frames and Hoops
Draping netting directly on the bush works until the fruit touches the net and birds peck right through it. These frames keep a gap between net and berries.
Stick these in the ground around your bush and drape netting over them. Creates a dome shape so berries don't press against the mesh. Wish someone told me this trick three years ago.
36 Pcs Garden Hoops, 6 Set of 8.4 Ft Long Fiberglass
Use these for raised beds full of strawberries. Bent them into arches over my 4x8 bed and the netting sits about 18 inches above the plants. Birds land on top and just slide off.
Gardzen, Garden Hoops, 24PCS, DIY Grow Tunnel
Grab the bulk pack if you're protecting multiple rows. Covered my entire side yard berry operation with these. Way cheaper per hoop than buying small packs.
8ft Garden Tunnel with 15 Clips Detachable Hoop House
Flip these upside down over individual bushes as a frame for netting. Sounds weird but it works perfectly for young blueberry plants that are still small.
Gardener's Blue Ribbon 3-Pack Ultomato
Try these around your gooseberry or currant bushes. The circular shape holds netting away from the fruit on all sides. My neighbor started copying this setup after watching me harvest actual berries for once.
6 Packs Tomato Cages Up to 51 Inches Assembled Plant
Get this if you want a permanent setup you don't rebuild every spring. Assembled it once around my raspberry patch and just lift the netting on and off when I need to pick.
Gardener's Supply Company 4' x 4' Walk-In Crop Cage
For anyone with a long row garden, these cover serious ground. Ran them down my 30-foot blueberry hedge and finally had enough berries to actually freeze some for winter.
Koralakiri Garden Hoop Kit, 36pcs, Fiberglass, Raised Beds
Ground Stakes and Clips for Securing Netting
Wind lifted my netting three times the first summer. Birds got in every single time. Staking it down properly changed everything.
Pound these through the bottom edge of your netting every 12 inches. Learned the hard way that every 3 feet isn't enough when a thunderstorm rolls through at 2am.
Customer reviews for Landscape Staples 100-Pack
Snap these onto your hoops to hold netting in place. So much faster than trying to tie it with twine. Swapped out all my zip ties for these and setup went from an hour to twenty minutes.
Unique Bargains Greenhouse Clamps, 50 Pack Garden
Use the landscape staples you probably already have in your garage. They work just as well as the fancy ones for pinning netting edges to soil. Saved me a trip to the store.
Landmaster Fabric & Garden Staples 75pk
Bring extra staples because you will lose some in the dirt. Stepped on three buried ones last summer with bare feet. Keep a count and pull them all out at end of season.
Landscape Staples 6 Inch 100 Pack
Clip netting to bamboo stakes or fence posts with these. They grip tight and don't crack in the sun like clothespins do after a few weeks.
KINGLAKE 100 Pcs Plastic Tomato Clips for Climbing
Toss your rusty old staples and get these coated ones. Left cheap staples in the ground over winter once and they rusted into nothing. These survived two full seasons outside.
GardenMate 100-Pack 8'' 9 Gauge U Nails
Perfect if you're the person who changes their garden layout every year. These unclip and reclip without breaking so you can reposition netting whenever you rearrange things.
Tomato Plant Support Clips
Fruit Tree Netting and Covers
My cherry tree was basically a bird feeder until I figured out how to net something taller than me. These are sized for trees, not just bushes.
Drape this over a dwarf fruit tree and stake the bottom edges. Finally picked my own cherries for the first time in four years of growing them. The birds were furious.
Agfabric Garden Bird Netting Anti Bird Protection Net Fruit
Cut this to fit any size tree. Wrapped my fig tree like a present before the fruit ripened and actually got to make jam this year instead of watching starlings eat everything.
Garden Netting 7x100 ft, Bird Netting Heavy Duty & Reusable
Try this for smaller fruit trees like dwarf apple or pear. Light enough that branches don't sag but tight enough mesh that even wasps have trouble getting through.
Garden Netting, 13x33ft Heavy Duty Bird Netting Deer
Get the big roll if you have multiple trees to cover. One roll did my two cherry trees and a plum with room to spare. Way more cost effective than buying individual tree covers.
25x50ft Bird Netting, 1 inch Mesh, Heavy Duty Garden
Sized right for a single standard blueberry bush or small ornamental fruit tree. Threw it over my elderberry and cinched the bottom with a drawstring. Setup took maybe ten minutes.
Customer reviews for Dalen Bird X Protective Mesh Netting
Use this on your espalier fruit trees along a fence. The rectangular shape fits perfectly over flat-trained trees. My neighbor asked if my wall of apples was fake because none were missing bites.
RibRave 33 x13 Ft Bird Netting for Garden Tree and Plant
Visual Bird Deterrents That Actually Work
Netting does the heavy lifting but these visual deterrents keep birds from even approaching. Fewer birds testing your setup means fewer holes to patch.
Twist strips of this between stakes around your berry patch. The flashing and crackling noise spooked the robins enough that they moved to my neighbor's yard. Sorry, Mark.
dgysar 350ft Reflective Bird Scare Tape Double-Sided
Stick these in the ground around your garden perimeter. They spin in the breeze and throw light everywhere. Birds avoided my strawberry bed like it was haunted.
10 Pack Reflective Pinwheels for Yard and Garden,Wind
Set this on a post near your fruit trees. Move it every few days or birds figure out it's fake. Left mine in one spot for a week and watched a robin literally sit on its head.
Customer reviews for Dalen Fake Owl Decoy to Scare
Hang these from branches above your berry bushes. The big eye pattern freaks birds out at first. Combine with netting for the full defense because the balloon effect wears off after a couple weeks.
Bird-X Scare Eye Balloons - 3 Pack
Dangle these from your netting frame. They catch sunlight and throw reflections that make birds nervous about landing. Low effort, no batteries, just hang and forget.
8PCS/Set Bird Repellent Discs Reflective Hanging Device
Place one on each end of your berry row. Rotate their positions weekly. My blueberry yield tripled the first season I combined these with proper netting.
Hausse 2 Pack Fake Owl Decoys to Scare Birds Away
Hang these from tree branches or garden stakes. They twist and flash in any breeze. Pair them with netting and you've basically built a bird-proof fortress around your fruit.
SIMDOO 12 Pack Reflective Bird Scare Rods
Insect and Pest Mesh for Berries
Solved the bird problem and then spotted-wing drosophila destroyed my raspberries. Finer mesh handles the bugs that netting alone can't stop.
Switch to this fine mesh when your raspberries start coloring up. Regular bird netting lets tiny flies right through. Found that out the gross way when every berry had larvae in it.
Agfabric 10x15ft Mosquito netting,Garden Insect
Drape this over hoops for a bug-free tunnel. Grew my cleanest strawberry crop ever. No more cutting berries open to check for surprises before eating them.
Customer reviews for Garden Netting,Qissep 10x33ft Ultra
Use this specifically for spotted wing drosophila if they're in your area. The mesh is small enough to block those tiny flies. Check with your local extension office to see if SWD is a problem near you.
3 Pack Garden Netting 8x24FT Ultra Fine Mesh Mosquito
Toss this over low-growing blueberry bushes when insects are worst in midsummer. Light enough that sun and rain still get through but bugs stay out. Pulled it off once a week to check on things.
Agribon AG-19 Floating Row Cover (50' X 1000')
Perfect for anyone growing organic berries who can't spray anything. This mesh was my entire pest control strategy last season and I lost maybe five berries total.
10x30Ft Mosquito Bug Insect Bird Fine Mesh Net Barrier
Grab this in a pinch if garden-specific mesh is sold out. Used mosquito netting over my late-season raspberries when I couldn't find anything else. Worked fine for the two weeks I needed it.
10' x 20' Black Polyester Mesh Mosquito Netting Fabric
Get the long roll if you do succession planting and need to cover different sections at different times. Cut pieces as needed throughout the season. One roll lasted me two full years.
Agfabric Warm Worth Roll Floating Row Cover & Plant
Harvesting Tools for Netted Berry Gardens
Picking berries under netting is annoying if you don't plan access points. These tools and tricks make harvest day way less frustrating.
Grow individual blueberry bushes in these so you can move them out from under netting for easy picking. Roll the whole plant out, harvest, roll it back. No crawling under nets on your knees.
VIVOSUN, Grow Bags, 25 Gallon, Gray
Snag this if you want to pick twice as fast once you're under the netting. Combs through clusters and pops berries right off. Filled a gallon bag in half the time it normally takes me.
Blueberry Picker Berry Picker Rakes with Comb Teeth
Keep all your netting, clips, stakes, and ties in one of these in the shed. Spent twenty minutes hunting for clips last spring until I got organized. Now everything is in one bin.
Rubbermaid Roughneck 18-Gallon Box, Dark Indigo Metallic
Keep a pair near your netted area to trim any branches poking through the mesh. Poking branches create holes that birds find immediately. Ask me how I know.
Warranty & Registration
Use these for delicate berries like raspberries that bruise when you tug them. Snip the stem instead of pulling. Your jam will thank you when berries arrive intact instead of crushed.
Zenport ZS109 Garden Scissors for Fruit, Grapes
Bring a wide shallow basket under the netting instead of a deep bucket. Berries on top don't crush the ones on the bottom. Learned this after turning my first big harvest into accidental compote.
Garden Harvest Basket Handwoven Rattan
Toss this on the ground when you're picking low strawberries under netting tunnels. Your knees will survive harvest season. Mine were wrecked before I started using one of these.
Gorilla Grip Kneeling Pad, Thick Water-Resistant Foam