Bird Netting and Chicken Wire Cages

Hello. I just planted 18 fruit trees at my new property in Lakeside, CA. The pre-existing peach trees were savaged by animals before I could even harvest a single peach, so I was thinking about setting up cages around the trees. Is it feasible to fashion a single large cage that would encompass all of the trees? My idea (and please tell me if I’m being too protective) is to use PVC to fashion a series of 10’ x 12’ panels with the lower 3’ fashioned of chicken wire and the upper 9’ a sturdy bird netting. Each panel will be braced in the ground with rebar and securely connected to it’s neighbors with appropriate ties/fasteners/etc. One panel will have a door fashioned of PVC pipes with the same composition and attached with hinges. The top will be bird netting with either additional PVC pipe or wire for support.

As the idea is modular, my hope is to be able to put it up after the blooms start to fall, and take it down after the harvest. I will store it in my barn, so that the elements don’t degrade it quicker than necessary.

Now…can someone tell me if this is a foolish thought borne from the intense anger of not getting a single peach, or is it actually a workable plan?

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Sounds like work…but the plan seems ok to me.

If your fruit varmints must climb the trunk to get to the fruit you can put up a physical barrier to block climbing the trunk. You will need to make sure that the branches are above umping range. Squirrels are not good ant jumping up from ground level in loose ground cover.

I tried a netting enclosure for blueberries and the squirrels chewed thru the sides and roof and got most of the berries. So, i replaced it with a wood framed chicken wire enclosure. Keeps all the critters out except small birds (like wrens) and chipmunks. I’m OK with that since they don’t eat that much.

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What animals do you have in your area?

Some animals can chew through nets and wire. You need to take this into consideration.

Is it birds that are eating all of your fruit? If not, 12’ high with a top netting seems excessive to me.

6’-8’ coated wire 1"x1" grid fence seems sufficient to keep squirrels and larger animals out, and I doubt it will degrade any time soon. To prevent animals climbing over, perhaps attach a 1-2’ section of sheet metal around the perimeter, halfway up or at the top?