I use old net curtains looks ugly but so am i so who cares.
eljayv,
Jan 14, 4:48pm
Bird tape from Bunnings works for us hanging in strips and fluttering in the breeze.
pauldw,
Jan 14, 5:59pm
Small birds like waxeyes just push through standard bird netting any place where it isn't hanging loosely.
raewyn2,
Jan 14, 8:08pm
We found bees do more damage than birds. When we used to use a one piece cover-all net, birds would get tangled in it and the bees still got in. So I made up bags from net curtains - one bag per bunch. Tie bags over the bunches we want to eat and the birds and bees can have the rest.
harrislucinda,
Jan 15, 12:12pm
my cherry tree had a lot this year first time i had old drop curtains turned into a big bag draped over and a draw tie at the bottom great job But i use bird netting on my raspberries and grapes
kam04,
Jan 18, 9:36am
I use bird netting but birds will still find a way in it doesn't matter how good you think you have it sealed. The problem can be that sometimes a bird will get in but can't get back out so they sit and gorge themselves on grapes until you release them. We still get plenty of grapes though.
rainstorm,
Dec 18, 1:01pm
Best ideas?
lythande1,
Dec 18, 1:55pm
Cat. Works with mine. Although I don't mind we must have at least 300 bunches, the birds can have a few,.
bryalea,
Dec 18, 2:42pm
Years of many cats and many birds and the grapes remaining seems to be much more luck than cat numbers. Last year was pretty good and we had more cats than at present. Well back when we had a lot of cats the birds used to flog the cat food from under the grapevine and strip the grapevine. So wouldn't guarantee having a cat will help.
wasgonna,
Dec 19, 8:09am
Ever heard of Bird Netting?
oh_hunnihunni,
Dec 19, 9:04am
Brown paper bags on the bunches.
needy,
Dec 19, 3:09pm
Just finished covering my Grapes vine (absolutely covered in big bunches of grapes) with bird netting. I pruned it back and the birds were there in less than 10 minutes
oh_hunnihunni,
Dec 19, 3:11pm
Covered my tomatoes with it one year. I caught a lot of blackbirds.
lyndad59,
Dec 19, 4:10pm
My daughter had trouble last year birds eating her raspberries ,so she wound a couple of pieces of Xmas tinsel over the top and after that she got her raspberries .I am trying it this year over my strawberries ,as I had one SO close to ripe went out and the bugger was gone :(
loukirby,
Dec 19, 5:33pm
Birds got all my blueberries last year when covered with bird netting. This year the blueberries have a chicken wire cage around them (rabbit protection) which also protects against the birds. My fruit trees have fruit growing in organza bags to protect from the birds.
lovelurking,
Dec 19, 7:19pm
We decided years ago we would give up trying to grow cherries and plums for us and that we would buy them instead. We enjoyed watching the birds feed from our trees. (We usually got a good raspberry, blueberry and strawberry crop so I was happy with the compromise. ) A few years ago the fad was to hang cds on fishing gut in our fruit trees but I didn’t think it made a difference. One year I remember we rigged a tin canwith stones in it into the tree with rope attached that we would pull on from the kitchen window. That was a big F for fail. (Felt like F for Fool)! I read somewhere once toy snakes scare the bejesus out of birds so I had them strategically placed around the strawberries and raspberries. The toy snakes always worked on me, even though I put them there they’d give me a huge fright! Not much help sorry but try the toy snakes, they are less obvious to your visitors than the tin can theory. 😂 💿 🥫 🐍
poolgirl6,
Dec 19, 10:27pm
Anyone tried a sparkly owl?
wheelz,
Dec 20, 8:36am
Lovelurking. enjoyed your post!
I've a decent sized patch of raspberries, and found when using bird netting, it works really well BUT there needs to be NO gaps ! That means from underneath as well. I remember years ago when buying from an orchard, noticing bunches of grapes in their vast grapevine enclosed in paper bags. must have been a huge task!
mark_g,
Oct 16, 2:53pm
I've used netting for a few years and it works well - if done right. No gaps as mentioned above, and I also space the netting off the vine where possible. That's not really necessary but I do it because the cunning b/birds would sit there eyeing up their target, then dart in like a missile at the netting, grab it with their feet while flapping like mad in an attempt to hover for a few secs while the beak zooms in through the netting and maybe comes away with one grape. All over in 2 seconds!
It was such a thing to watch I felt she (it was always a 'she' who would be bold enough to execute such a mission) deserved the odd grape, but it became a problem when she stuffed up and left grapes in tatters. That brought the wasps. So I got around that by spacing the net off the vine just a little.
But last year my grapes were decimated by wasps anyway. I don't think there were more wasps than usual, I don't know what set the wasps onto the grapes but once they found them it was over within days. So this year it's going to be fine mesh bags on each bunch. We'll see how that goes.
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