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| Last spring we planted some fruit trees and berries and a small veggie patch. Even on the limited fruit we had this year, birds and squirrels got most of it, quickly followed by ants once the skin was broken. Common pests are birds, squirrels, roof rats, possums, raccoons and on the rare occasion something larger. This is the San Fernando Valley in So Cal, so insects are less of a problem than elsewhere Anyway, I want to be prepared for next summer. Here's what we have: Trees: apple, peach, fig, orange, grapefruit and pomegranate. I am keeping them all under 7' tall and bushy berries: Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries For the veggie patch, I just throw some bird netting over the trellis poles and stake it down, which does the trick for the most part. The strawberries are all in one bed, so I'm going to make some lightweight cages for them. The trees are all in a small bed 11' x 14' and I'm mostly concerned about the figs, peaches and apples. The pomegranates and the citrus see much less damage. I was hoping to find a big cage that would fit over the whole bed, something that was temporary that I could leave up from June-October and then store away until the following summer. There are several companies that make something like this in the UK, but they don't ship to California, and are meant to be permanent structures in any event. The only thing I could find stateside is this: http://www.amazon.com/Gardman-7662-Fruit-Cage-Large/dp/B007KKVWBY Two of those would cover everything but the citrus, but I'm less worried about those. It doesn't get very good reviews on Amazon. I've also thought of buying a giant tent and just using the frame with some bird netting. Or DIY it, but I'm not feeling up to it. So if you know of any products that would cover the trees, I'd love to know about it The blueberries are arranged in a wide circle around a jacaranda tree. They will each need their own cage or netting, so any recommendations on that are welcome. The raspberry vines are trellised up against the house, and I'm also not sure what to do about that. Thanks for reading this. |
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| You can make PVC cages, check out the attached link. I made one for a blueberry bush, you can just take it apart if you want to store. I just made a pvc box with 1 inch PVC and used plastic ties to attach bird netting. I don't have a good photo of it. Look through the whole tread, some good photos in there. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Keeping birds away
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| My local orchard fences the berry field with deer and rodent fences, then covers with bird netting at top. So it is a large cage. |
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This post was edited by mrclint on Fri, Nov 28, 14 at 21:48
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- Posted by sheckylovejoy USDA 10a Sunset 19 (My Page) on Fri, Nov 28, 14 at 20:01
| Drew51: Thanks for the blueberry link. I don't have my bushes in rows, so the drip irrigation tubing mini-dome looks like a great solution for me, and I already have all the parts I need. RedSun: I was hoping to avoid having to build something, but that was along the lines I was thinking. mrclint: Very interesting, but I think we'r going to have too many of those to be practical. Thanks for the responses everyone |
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- Posted by sheckylovejoy USDA 10a Sunset 19 (My Page) on Sun, Dec 28, 14 at 11:52
| In case anyone cares, we have the strawberry cages built. Some photos: http://s1163.photobucket.com/user/sheckylovejoy/slideshow/GardenWeb |
Here is a link that might be useful: Strawberry Cages
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