Second Don's comments on birds, although I've never had the experience of having them picking the berries with me. I'm about to give up the bird netting, though and go with poultry fencing since I have a semipermanent structure set up around my bushes. If the netting is lax anywhere the birds seem to find a way to get caught in it. I extricated at least a half dozen this Summer and found one dead. It is not easy to free a tangled bird who is trying to peck you while you're carefully dissecting the strands of neting from around his toes, wings, neck, etc.

What's frustrating is that there is a big patch of my wife's raspberries which aren't covered. While they do help themselves to some raspberries, like me, they seem to much prefer the blueberries.

Dave

It's not a bad idea to leave a few unnetted plants for the birds- they won't work as hard to get in the netted plants-at least while there are still berries unprotected.

(dumb question): Is it possible to keep the blueberry bushes short through pruning so they're easier to net?

Thanks to everyone who responded (I don't have setting on receiving emails when people respond anymore it seems)- I have more of an idea of what to do now. Looks like I'm going to need more than two plants so the birdies can have their own! We have a privet tree right outside our fence and today I caught the birds eating the berries so now I'm 100% sure the blueberries will be picked at- though I'd prefer it if they kept to the privet. lol

ajpa:

Just a quick response to your question. No questions are dumb here, though some are smarter than others. Blueberry blossoms tend to cluster toward the ends of the canes. There is very little blossoming in the interior of the bushes. If you pruned them down, you would pretty much eliminate the blossoming wood. The usual way to prune mature blueberry bushes is to remove entire older canes from the plant, leaving the younger and more vigorous.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

Lest someone get the noble idea that you can plant enough bushes to keep the birds and you full......

Fruit bushes and nut trees want the birds and squirrels to come and get it, that's why they present their seeds in attractive packages. You must exclude the animals with effective physical barriers to have the whole crop to yourself.

Don, thanks very much.
I guess that means I really should pick varieties that don't grow that tall.
Any recs for northern ones that don't grow that tall but have sweet berries? I'm in PA zone 6.

We are surrounded by woodland and have lots of wild black cherry trees. It seemed like the birds left the blueberries alone until the cherries were gone. Luckily, we had harvested most of them by then and didn't mind the birds having a few. Maybe an alternative food planted nearby would help.

We live in Madison, Wisconsin, in a residential neighborhood on the east side of town. I think I am up to 20 blueberry shrubs now-I really should count them when the snow melts...
Every year, we lose about 10% of the crop to birds, if that. I have never applied netting. We have lots of birds every summer. I can't explain why we only lose a few blueberries.

This should explain that you have a good food source in your neighbourhood,...good for you, Eric.
I don't put up netting anymore, most bird nettings are killing birds,...they should be banned!
Harvestman said that the commercial heavy netting doesn't kill, I'll keep an eye open on these.

Konrad

Woven white netting with 3 black stripes to help positioning is designed to be seen by birds. Never caught one in this netting but have killed birds and squirrels in the black monofilament. Wish it was better at killing squirrels- I might sacrifice a few catbirds for that.

Yes Don, I will try your peanut butter bon bons this spring! I'll let you know how they work.

I heard Morus (Mulberry) is one of the best alternative food planted nearby blueberry but I've never check this.

I sow plantation covered with bird netting. There was lots of killed birds. The mesh was about 5cm x 5cm and birds tried flying over.

In my opinion hail netting is better. Mesh is smaller.

Here is a link that might be useful: My blueberry plantation in Poland

I'm looking for netting as well. Does anyone have an opinion of these two? http://americannettings.com/packaged_products/bird_netting/bird_netting.htm or http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=119610-23132-92116&lpage=none

Harvestman: Do you have a link/source of the netting you mentioned? "Woven white netting with 3 black stripes to help positioning is designed to be seen by birds. Never caught one in this netting but have killed birds and squirrels in the black monofilament."

thank you