I netted my montmorency cherry tree and carmine jewell bushes. It was a pain to put on and remove, and deterred me from picking as well. I noticed pretty severe bird damage on ruby prince, harvester peaches and supersweet nectarine and those trees were too big to net. I applied several strips of scare tape and the bird damage completely stopped. I am amazed how effective the tape is even after my mullberries have dried up.
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I use paint roller with extension rod to lift net over the tree. Hereās my apples trees pruned to open center covered by 30āx30ā net. I tie bottom net corners around the trunk.
To take net off, I do everything in reverse. If I have small twigs growing through net, I cut them from the inside canopy prior to taking net down.
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Did the scare tape work for all of your trees?
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Yes, every tree I put tape on, the damage stopped
Nectarines, peaches, and apples.
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At 8 foot you could cover the whole tree with netting. When my trees were that height I did put netting all over them. Now they are taller ( I need to prune them down some) I cannot put a net over the top of them.
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Hmmm . Thatās impressive. Never thought that would actually work. Thanks for the input
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Thanks really appreciate the tip. Never heard of scare tape. I have tried everything else to get rid of the pigeons at my camp. Will definitely give scare tape a try.
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Tried it - birds werenāt scared
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I was also thinkingā¦if thereās no wind then they wonāt flash. And they donāt deter coons or possumsā¦ especially at night. Iāll stick with the mesh idea
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My biggest problem is raccoons. They pretty much stripped my Orient pear tree, and some of it was bagged. My Raccoons are so aggressive I donāt think mesh would stop them . I am curious about using sheet metal tubes around the trees . It would be pretty difficult for them to tear up the sheet metal. Also, solar lights are pretty inexpensive . I think Iām gonna try a combination of the sheet metal and the solar lights on at least one tree next season. Then use a game camera to record The action. Should be interesting.
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yea from these past few years of gardening I realized animals are not dumb! not dumb at all. They know teamwork, recognize patterns and can find flaws in every type of protection. For fruit trees the only way to keep them out is cover it up completely from top to bottom with space in between the trees/fruits and the netting which requires a frame. If not, rats will bite through anything. For vegetables, it must be surrounded by a metal cage.
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Iāve started using mosquito netting for my fruit trees and bushes. Seems to work a lot better that bird netting etc. The sunlight is still able to reach the fruit, and the weave is very fine. Also, it tends to come in very large sizes that can be trimmed to suit. I weight down the edges with stones held in place with twist ties.
It works well for birds. Chipmunks (and other rodents) will chew a hole and make your bountiful 2024 haskap harvest look like Kill Bill Vol.1. Ask me how I know.
I hate managing sites where I have to net the trees. Iām already baffling them for squirrels in most cases so I have to make a tight, closed net and tie it with string or stuff it into the baffle, if it is shaped like a funnel on top.
Birds find their way in if it isnāt tight enough to keep a pet parakeet inside and they are often killed by monofilament black nets.
Some birds like Eastern blue jays will attack fruit at some sites but not at others, which I havenāt sorted out. I would never bother with nets until I was certain it was necessary. Some sites they are only a problem on plums at others they destroy even apples.
The best netting canāt be had in this country any more at a reasonable price. You want to use mesh netting because it is much easier to handle than mono-filament.
Iām wondering if this stuff is strong enough for repeated usage. Amazon.com
This looks better. Amazon.com
iYHQKye6aj1qZFqq.yFAVQW0wZveXtP6ebEgoupG7PCXezqDHJN2K2euzaps&dib_tag=se&hvadid=77378324387493&hvbmt=bp&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=102662&hvnetw=s&hvqmt=p&hvtargid=kwd-77378450733382%3Aloc-190&hydadcr=20632_13426731&keywords=fruit%2Bnet%2Btree&msclkid=389f03806dc81666b701652b2a2e6f89&qid=1722501316&refinements=p_n_feature_browse-bin%3A116624650011&rnid=116623712011&s=lawn-garden&sr=1-62&th=1
Does anyone know a better source for something like the latter? This is what I bought for a while when they had it in 500ā X 30ā rolls, but even at the price they sold it for then it was not very good. It is too weak and tears easily. Knitted Bird Netting - American Nettings
I also used to purchase long rolls of 15ā wide vineyard netting which I had to sew together to get 30ā squares, the size you need for a compact, free standing fruit tree. Sometimes you need a 45ā square for a decent sized, mature peach tree.
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Agreed. Iām not in it for money, but I have the space for the trees so in like why not. Butā¦since im doing this Iām realizing all the ups and downs.
The birds in my area are pretty intense. And using scare tape wonāt work against coon and possums, especially at night.
The rolls you found are what I found online. That price seems about right. It looks like about $100 to do each row in my case which is about 30x50
American Netting has been recommended in other posts but now the you mention it tears Iām not sure itās a good choice. I do have some that hasnāt teared but only used it twice.
Iām using it second year. No issue so far. It stretches, is easy to put on/off.
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After using this AN brand for 5-6 years, I can tell that while it does not snag much, it is easily torn. The nettings are expensive but they donāt hold up well at all.
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I noticed that set up as well, but when I net a tree without the support of a frame, the birds can only reach a limited amount of the fruit so the control is usually more than adequate for me. When I want a frame I can always build it with wood taped to the highest branches in the tree, or tape a couple of wide sticks to branches that are long enough to rise slightly above the tree (the sticks, that is). You can start with a straight sapling taped to the trunk of the tree that rises a bit above it. It doesnāt take much time if you use cheap electric tape.
I manage scores of orchards and my two calling cards are ample harvests of tree ripened fruit and accomplishing it for a reasonable price.
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Yeah, I see that solar outdoor motion sensor on Amazon for 26 bucks with The dogs barking and the gunshot. Supposedly it will go to 130 DB. That might just work for me. A friend of mine told me that my place is a raccoon magnet because I have water and fish . Seems like the people that donāt have a raccoon problem in my area have outside dogs
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