Netting: Use Of. And Re Raspberries & Birds

[Bob]

Hello,

A. Have never used netting, but am thinking it might be a good idea now to use over some Raspberry vines I planted. That's assuming, of course, any berries actually come up !

All the netting I have seen seems to be a 3/4 mesh.

Is this the "right" size to keep small songbirds, finches, chickadees, etc off of the Raspberries ? Or,...?

Live in New England, outside of Boston.

Can't their beaks just go thru the opening to the berries ?

Do you just drape it over the bush/vine, or do you need some kind of a support structure to hold the netting a few inches away ?

Would sure be easier to just drape it; would this work ?

Any thoughts on how one uses this stuff, and the right kind to get, would bew most appreciated.

B. My second question concerns Raspberries.

Planted some vines for the first time. How big a problem is birds and Raspberries ?

Live outside of Boston, and have most of the common New England type of birds.

Thanks, Bob

[General Schvantzkoph]

I have netting over my blueberries. I also live outside of Boston, in Westford. Laying netting right over the buses doesn't work, you need a structure of some sort. In my case my bushes sit between my house and my barn so there are walls on three sides. The netting forms a roof and the fourth wall. Without netting you will get zero yield, birds will eat all of your berries before you even know you have any. BTW don't bother with scarecrows of any sort, they don't work. I bought a fake owl from Amazon and stuck it on a pole near my bushes. I pretty much knew it wouldn't work but it was cheap and I figured it was worth a shot. I've seen birds roosting on top of the owl, they aren't stupid, they are smarter then me because none of them spent $20 at Amazon on a plastic owl.

[Pat Kiewicz]

Yes.

Best with a support structure. It's fairly easy to make one using PVC pipe and fittings (3/4 or 1 inch).

Here's one way of doing it:

'd suggest adding a frame of some sort around the bottom to hold the netting against the ground.

They haven't been a big problem for me. But I live in a neighborhood that's overrun with mulberry trees, which offer vast quantities of a

*much* more desirable fruit.

I don't have to net my raspberries here, but I do need to net my strawberries. Since these are low-growing, I don't need to make a structure out of the PVC pipe, but simply bend them into an arc and drive the ends into the ground.

I remember having to use netting on my raspberries at my last place. The blue jays were the worst offenders, if I recall correctly.