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pharmachad

Bird netting for blueberried

pharmachad
9 years ago

Got my netting up just in time. First berries of
the season. Big Emeralds.

This post was edited by PharmaChad on Sun, Apr 20, 14 at 22:05

Comments (19)

  • pharmachad
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Pic of my hoops that I put my netting over.
    Put some rebar in the ground and stuck
    PVC over it.

  • thecityman, Zone 7a/6b near Nashville
    9 years ago

    That looks great....a simple yet effective design. Hope you don't mind me borrowing your system!

  • northernmn
    9 years ago

    Pharma, What do you use to hold your netting tight to the ground. I've had to use hose, pipe, boards, etc. Without them, the wind catches the netting and the birds have a feast.

    {{gwi:90399}}

  • bennylafleur
    9 years ago

    Chad,
    Can you furnish some construction details? Such as size of PVC, length of horizontals and hoops. And are they joined by a cross? Is the PVC system glued or is it taken down when not needed?

    Benny

  • pharmachad
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Ok guys some more details. I actually made
    the frame to fit the netting size. I bought some
    Bird-x netting 14 x 45 for 20 bucks from
    Home Depot which you can order on-line.
    Got some 4 foot x 3/8 inch rebar from Lowes
    Which is a little over a buck. I drove the rebar
    in the ground 2 feet to keep the hoops uniform.
    A word of caution. My 10 year old was helping
    me drive the rebar and ended up with 4 stitches
    Be careful they are sharp! The distance between
    the rebar( on 1 hoop) is about 6 feet. 2 foot from pot on each
    side and pot is 2 ft. PVC is 1/2 inch. I got some
    Damaged 20 ft pieces from my brother who is
    In AC repair. I laid all the hoops on the ground
    To assemble them to make it easier. I cut the PVC
    6.5 foot and joined together by a T on ends and
    a four-way in middles. So my hoop is about 13
    foot total. You need about 6 inches of netting on
    each side to hold it down with something. In my
    case old bricks. The PVC on the top run(from hoop
    to hoop) is 10 foot. It does sag a little so I wouldn't
    go any loner unless you go up on PVC size. I wanted
    To be able to take it down easily so instead of glue
    I drilled holes in the Ts and four-ways and inserted
    Roofing nails so the frame doesn't fall apart and can easily
    be taken apart. Please let me know if you have any more
    questions.

  • rayrose
    9 years ago

    All of my blues are in the ground, but a similar structure.
    Mine is 55 ft. x 8ft. The netting is 2 nets 30 x 30 each joined together from American Nettings.

  • lsoh
    9 years ago

    rayrose,

    How did you join the nets together?

    Thanks.

  • bamboo_rabbit
    9 years ago

    Pharmachad,

    Very well done.

  • bennylafleur
    9 years ago

    Chad

    Thanks for the details. I have some bushes in the mountains next to the Cherokee National Forest, and to my surprise I do not have a problem with birds. I am now planting some on a lot close to town, and know they will be hungry here. I wanted something effective, simple, and temporary, and I like your pictures.

    Thanks, Benny

  • rayrose
    9 years ago

    I joined the nets together with twist ties, That's also how
    I secured the netting to the hoops.I used a brick liner
    to keep the netting secured to the ground.

  • bart1
    9 years ago

    Great info in here! Thanks Chad!!!!

    Rayrose - - where did you get the green tubing? Also how did you secure it to the ground? Rebar?

    Also, does it stand up permanently in the wind or do you have to prop it back up after a storm?

  • mrsg47
    9 years ago

    Chad what a great looking structure. My only question is how do you get in and out (to pick berries?) Did you make some type of door or do you have to 'un-twist' the twist ties? I'd love to create one of those for my raspberries and blackberries. I too have the green netting from American Netting and it is the best! thanks, Mrs. G

  • bart1
    9 years ago

    What size netting (mesh size) are you using?

    I just looked at the American Netting website and it's not very helpful. It looks like it was designed in 1992 and hasn't been updated since!

  • plumhillfarm
    9 years ago

    Hi Folks, We use bird netting for our stone fruit trees, which are 8' to 12' high and 8' to 15' wide. We bought a mile of bird netting 17' wide more than a decade ago,we cut it into 60' lengths, fold it in half lengthwise and sew it together with poly hay twine. You take the sides and roll them over so about 4-6" of the netting is in the roll, then every 6" sew the twine thru the netting wrapping it around so if will not unfurl. Tie knots every foot or so, it doesn't take long. These last for years, we cover 300 trees per year using 20 or so nets and we still have half the roll of netting (we move the nets to the trees which are ripening, we have sequential ripening). We fasten the nets using cloths pins, very effective (get good ones though), so if you lay a wire along your net edge with staples in the ground, you can attach it with the cloths pins to make an easily accessible net system.

  • rayrose
    9 years ago

    The way that I built the structure:
    1) drove 2 ft.long rebar half way into the ground.
    2) took 10 ft. long sections of 1/2 inch pvc and cut them
    in half and placed each 5 ft. section over the rebar.
    3) took 10 ft. long 1/4 inch pvc to make the hoop and
    slid it into the 1/2 inch pvc.
    4) spray painted the pvc so that it would blend in with
    the netting.
    5) placed the netting over the structure and secured it to the pvc with twist ties. I stretched the netting as tight as possible in order to avoid sags, and secured the bottom with bricks.
    I just built the structure and I plan on leaving it up permanently.

    6) also cut a door in the side by the garage and attached
    scrap black netting using twist ties to the opening, and
    secured a 6 ft. long section of pvc to the bottom in order to weight it down. Attached 2 L claps to the pvc on each side of the door so when I roll up the door I can place it on the clamps, while I'm inside working, and then roll it back, when I'm through. The whole structure took about 3 hrs. with the help of my nephew.

  • mrsg47
    9 years ago

    Rayrose, thanks, Mrs. G

  • pharmachad
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    This is the netting I bought. Very, very lightweight and
    UV resistant. Cheapest price I found was $20 at HomeDepot.

    Bird-X 14 ft. x 45 ft. Dalen Products Netting 3/4 in. Polypropylene Mesh

  • pharmachad
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    MrsG47,
    I just have a make-shift door. Have PVC on the ground and lift it to get in. I am open to suggestions.
    I am thinking of getting a long strip of Velcro to use for
    easy opening and closing. Anyone else have some simple
    ideas?

  • rayrose
    9 years ago

    This is the door. The black netting almost makes it invisible. You can see the white pvc at the bottom.

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