@JosephH, I don’t see why you need to use an expensive setup like that umbrella frame for netting a tree. I just toss a big net over my cherry tree, and it works great. Having the net touching the top of the tree results in a few losses of cherries growing right at the top, but that’s minimal. You can’t leave the net on for too long, because new branches will eventually grow right through it, but the net is only needed while the fruit is ripening. I’ve also used floating row cover material ove a big cherry tree, and it works even better because nothing can grow through it and the birds can’t get at the fruit just under the cover.
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How tall/wide is your cherry tree? For me, the frame makes it so much easier to get the netting over the top of the tree to be able to cover it completely because it’s lightweight. My trees are big and all above 15 ft and it’s pretty much impossible to just toss a big net over it even with the tallest ladder you can find at home depot. I also used floating row cover/mesh by replacing the bird netting with it. Also you don’t have to leave this on year round, after harvest is over I just take it off and put it up again next year. I guess the best thing about this is you don’t have to prune your tree as much and can allow it to grow well above 15 ft to enjoy more fruits. Although pruning is inevitable unless you increase the size of netting/cover. The hardest thing is somehow getting the netting over a big tree which is the problem this frame solves.
Yea I have problems with raccoons, rats, and squirrels too. But the birds do the MOST damage because they come in packs and just wipe out a few days of fruits and mess everything up with pecking.
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My tree is currently about 10 ft tall and 14 ft wide, but it was at least 15 ft tall before I started reducing its height a few years ago. My floating row cover was large enough for the 15 ft height. I agree that anything over 15 ft tall would be hard to cover without some assistance. I managed to cover the 15 ft height by rolling the cover into shape that unrolls easily from the center of the tree and then climbing up to the center of the tree to apply it.
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True, they come in groups and can do a lot of damage in a short time. You scare them away and they come right back. Endless. You can only stay out there so long.
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Birds have eaten almost every last fruit off every one of my 25-30 trees. As stated here by many, a bird - usually a woodpecker or a jay - drill an exploratory hole on the ripe side of a half-done fruit. Then the wasps and flies come and it’s over. I have tried bagging, and they simply attack the bag (even the Clemson paper ones). I have tried selective netting, but there’s just no way I can get a net cleanly over a semi-dwarf tree, or even part of one. Even my dwarf trees are almost impossible to net. Even when I do, the birds just land somewhere and peck through the netting.
I have been growing fruit trees since 2011, been on this forum (mostly lurking) for years, sprayed according to Scott’s schedule, put hundreds of hours of labor into it, and with all my trees this year - with hundreds of fruit - I have probably gotten to eat two peaches and three plums. Now I can see they’re going after the apples, and there’s no way they’ll make it to October.
It never used to be this bad. I could have my Bubblegum plum with 40 fruits on it, and make jam, etc… now, nothing. Not sure how or if to proceed. Pretty demoralized.
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Same problem here this year. Even have to cover my tomato plants. Putting single fruit in small bags hasn’t helped much. Larger bags, 1ft, 2ft and 3ft long that can cover a branch or part of a branch works best. I even have some 3x5 ft bags.
Ian,
So sorry to hear this.
Are you sure you don’t have other animals steal your fruit?
Day time stealers like squirrels and groundhogs and night raiders like opossums and raccoons?
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Haven’t seen any squirrels or ground vermin. I know it’s 95% birds because they all flock away when I show up. Some of them are so brazen that they will stay and destroy fruit mere feet away from me. Thinking about taking a year off, except I don’t want any fungus like brown rot to creep in and destroy what took 12 years to build.
The birds got to the very top part of my peach trees. Bird pecks and the the honey bees come and enjoy the open fruit. The fruit was pretty far up so even with the fruit picking poles I could not reach that far up. So that fruit I probably would not be able to pick them unless I hit the branches to get the ripe fruit to fall. I figured the birds could have the fruit I could not really pick.
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You should definitely check out this netting kit https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CYGZLHN2?ref=myi_title_dp&th=1 It makes it very easy to get netting over almost any size tree. It’ll work for a semi dwarf most certainly.
Has anyone tried leaving a shallow dish of water in the middle of the yard for birds to drink? I had a problem with birds wiping out my potted blueberries last year but it seemed like my putting a large dish(actually a garbage can lid) minimized the damage this year. It didn’t help my satsuma plum though.
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If you want a relatively low price netting I recommend this company. Amazon.com
I’m using them this year as birds are back to their nasty tricks at some orchards I manage, especially against plums. Woven nets are much easier to deal with and two people with two long bamboo poles can drape a net over a pretty large tree in a short few minutes. The ones I linked are black and that makes them almost invisible, which is a bonus on the estates where I’m managing orchards. So far I haven’t trapped any birds due to the color. I secure the nets to the trunks of trees with string so birds cannot get in underneath.
I don’t believe a frame is worth the money or time because birds here only damage a few fruits once trees are netted- those that are right against the net. However, PVC piping could be used to create a quick frame by taping it to branches and bending it to create a dome over the canopy. Someday I may try that.
They left the majority of my blueberries and strawberries alone for most of the growing season until just a few days ago.
I like how they wiped out the last of my blueberries for this season. The wasps also help me clear off what’s left so far and I’m kind of glad for them. We’ve already gotten all the really good ones and the ones that are left are smaller berries anyways. I’ve noticed the plants grow a little quicker when they’re not trying to ripen berries and they need this next month to grow the last bits before storing up the energy for next season so these last few days of bird and bug clearance is nice for me.
I have a ton of strawberries coming in right now and some last minute raspberries that I don’t mind sharing.
Sometimes they do only go after the fruits when they’re thirsty so the water dish helps.
I don’t mind the animals, as a matter of fact, i welcome them sometimes. Especially for things i can’t reach or don’t wanna eat anyways.
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