What's the best way to protect blueberries from birds?. Bird netting gets
all tangled on the bushes, is there a better way. My cat is doing his
part but he can't be there 24/7, is there something else that might scare
them away?

Josh

Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz wrote:
What's the best way to protect blueberries from birds?. Bird netting gets
all tangled on the bushes, is there a better way. My cat is doing his
part but he can't be there 24/7, is there something else that might scare
them away?

Depending on the size of the berry bushes and the plot, you could
consider PVC tubing to hold the netting above the bushes. It wouldn't
work in all plots or with all types of blueberry bushes, but it might
for yours. I cover my strawberries with netting under a tubing
superstructure. The patch is 4' wide and 16 feet long and the bushes are
about the size of the bushes on the acres of blueberries that surround me.

..

Zone 5b in Canada's Blueberry Infested Far East

--

We must change the way we live,
or the climate will do it for us.

"Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz" wrote in message
news
What's the best way to protect blueberries from birds?. Bird netting gets
all tangled on the bushes, is there a better way. My cat is doing his
part but he can't be there 24/7, is there something else that might scare
them away?

Josh

Josh,

Go to the hardware store. Starting in the electrical supplies aisle, buy
some one inch diameter plastic conduit. This is gray pvc with one male end,
one female end and is very flexible. Next go to the cement/masonry aisle
and get some 3/8 or 1/2 inch rebar (hopefully they have some already cut to
2 foot lengths). Pound four two foot long rebar rods in the ground, evenly
spaced around the plant, with about 8 inches of rod above ground and about
one foot out from the branches. Insert the hollow end of the plastic
conduit on one rod, then bend it in an arch over the plant to the rod on the
opposite side. Do that again with the other two rods to create a second
arch over the plant. Use more than one piece of conduit joined together if
needed to keep the hoops off the branches. Do not worry about the two hoops
touching, being exactly centered or anything along those lines, each hoop
can stand on its own. You now have a smooth surface to easily pull a net
over without the net touching the branches. Modify as needed for long rows.

Keith

On Fri, 06 Jul 2007 11:50:10 -0400, Keith Copi wrote:

"Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz" wrote in message
news
What's the best way to protect blueberries from birds?. Bird netting
gets all tangled on the bushes, is there a better way. My cat is doing
his part but he can't be there 24/7, is there something else that might
scare them away?

Josh

Josh,

Go to the hardware store. Starting in the electrical supplies aisle,
buy some one inch diameter plastic conduit. This is gray pvc with one
male end, one female end and is very flexible. Next go to the
cement/masonry aisle and get some 3/8 or 1/2 inch rebar (hopefully they
have some already cut to 2 foot lengths). Pound four two foot long
rebar rods in the ground, evenly spaced around the plant, with about 8
inches of rod above ground and about one foot out from the branches.
Insert the hollow end of the plastic conduit on one rod, then bend it in
an arch over the plant to the rod on the opposite side. Do that again
with the other two rods to create a second arch over the plant. Use
more than one piece of conduit joined together if needed to keep the
hoops off the branches. Do not worry about the two hoops touching,
being exactly centered or anything along those lines, each hoop can
stand on its own. You now have a smooth surface to easily pull a net
over without the net touching the branches. Modify as needed for long
rows.

Keith

Thanks, I really like this solution.

I have not tried this yet but allegedly old cd's glued together shiny side out and hung on a string will solve the problem (the light scares them)