How do you protect your berry bushes and strawberry plants from birds, deer and other critters? If you use netting, how do you keep the wind from destroying it? Thanks, Stace

-- Stacey (stacey@lakesideinternet.com), February 08, 2002

Answers

keep it tight, and replace every few years, or start eating more deer birds and other critters

-- Stan (sopal@net-port.com), February 08, 2002.

Hi Stacey- We have about an acre of commercial strawberries and a few berry bushes of different sorts. Too many for nets. I've found that electric fence is the best protection from deer and alum.pie tins strung around the field on poles seem to help keep the birds out. (of course if you have a day with no breeze that doesn't work too well) Unfortunately, neither system seems to work for racoons, I guess we'll have to eat them!

-- Judy Corwin VA Nubians (corwinsusa@netscape.net), February 09, 2002.

You didn't say whether you wanted to protect a bed or two or a field. I have 2 12X4' raised beds of strawberries. I made 2 8X3" panels and 4 4' ones from 2X2 lumber. The end support of each panel is 5' to allow legs to go on the outside of the bed. I covered the panels with plastic fencing. Hold them around the bed with bungie cords. Across the top I put another piece of plastic fencing hooked on to several nails placed in the top rail of panels. Keeps birds, cats, chickens, and whatever out of the beds.

-- Duffy (hazelm@tenforward.com), February 09, 2002.

I have a fake electric fence around my blueberries and another one around my Christmas Trees. At a time I had a battery powered electric fencer in both areas (takes seconds to hook up). The cattle, horses, deer have stayed out. Sheep will not, they are now locked up. Have a lot of wild berries in the woods behind house so I think the birds enjoy that instead of my bluebery u-pick in a flat unprotected area for them. The owls enjoy the birds so I think that is why they stay back.

-- debbie (bwolcott@cwis.net), February 11, 2002.