Blueberry Fence Ideas: Nets

The Need for Nets

• A wide variety of birds, such as robins, grackles, sparrows and finches, love the sweet, juicy taste of blueberries. Small birds will land on the bush and randomly peck and eat berries, while larger birds will snap away whole branches laden with fruit and fly away. The loss of blueberries means the loss of revenue for sellers, or fruit for your family, for home gardeners. In addition to birds, deer are also partial to the luscious blueberry and will ravage and trample bushes while eating their fill. Many growers are against using chemical bird repellents, preferring to use organic, natural methods to protect the berries. To avoid having your blueberries consumed by birds and other berry-loving animals cover the blueberry bushes with nets before evidence of fruiting and until the last berries have been harvested.

Plastic Mesh

• Plastic netting can be used to protect blueberry bushes. Fabric, hunting and garden stores offer a wide array of different thicknesses, colors and mesh-opening dimensions. Fish net, mosquito net and even plastic potato and onion bags can be used to protect the plants. For potted, single blueberry bushes grown by the home gardener, a large plastic mesh potato bag pulled over the bush and pot will work nicely. The bush may have a tendency to grow through the mesh, making it difficult to remove. Larger scale blueberry growing requires different plastic mesh approaches. The Oregon State University Extension Service suggests building frames from lightweight wood or PVC pipes and covering the frame with plastic mesh rather than covering the bush directly. The mesh can be secured to the ground with stakes if necessary. When berry harvesting time arrives, lift back the net to pick the berries and then resecure the net when finished.

Metal Mesh

• Metal mesh is available in varying degrees of fineness and mesh-opening dimensions. Often stainless-steel mesh used in other industries, such as construction and electrical industries, can be purchased for covering blueberry bushes. Due to the heavier nature of metal mesh, a frame is required over the plant to support the mesh. Window screen, which is a fine metal mesh, sometimes plastic-coated to reduce rust, is available at home improvement stores off the bolt in the window department. Window screen is thin enough to be cut with utility scissors.

Other Bird and Animal Deterrents

• The Missouri State University publication "The Berry Basket" reports that plastic or metal mesh netting will protect blueberries from about 100 percent of birds, but many growers use other means of deterring birds and garden pests from their plants, including pin wheels, wind chimes and other noisy devices, Mylar streamers or balloons. A new chemical created from grape extract is also used, as is a chemical called methyl anthranilate that has been used in Missouri. Chemicals are applied before blueberries ripen. If deer are troubling your blueberries, chicken wire fences may be built around the plants as a first line of defense.