Netting tips and tricks?

[d000hg]

Living in the country, we already knew cherries and redcurrants needed bird protection but this year we've seen black currants and red gooseberries pillaged... Bushes stripped, branches broken.

Cheap green plastic netting is easiest but very hard to reuse and I hate using disposable plastic.
I built wooden panels 8x3' covered in chicken wire but they are cumbersome.

I'd love to hear how you net your fruit. Products you use, things you've built, lessons learned.

[Mr Bones]

We protect blackcurrants from pigeons with knitted netting. Four tall supports, drape the net over and tent peg to the ground.

[burnie]

I only netted the strawbs this year, the Blackbirds ate a fair bit, but there was enough left for me, like you I don't like using plastic, so I am going over to galvanised chicken wire.

[ameno]

I use scaffold debris netting. It's a tighter weave than standard bird netting, and much tougher. It keeps most insects out as well, so obviously you would need to remove it during flowering time, but other than that it does the job well.

[peanut]

I use black knitted netting, bird netting from Elixir Gardens and butterfly netting from Gardening-Naturally both from Ebay.
I use hoops or posts and secure with lengths of wood or tent pegs.

[Nicos]

I stopped using netting having untangled several birds and a hedgehog .
Maybe keeping it taut is the answer?
These days I use fleece and remove it for a few hours if any pollination is required.

[Derbydal]

quick and easey, plastic bottles on top of canes and nets draped over and tent pegs to hold down . atb Dal

[d000hg]

To those using netting draped over things, do you manage to retrieve and reuse it? How do you store it? I find the cheap stuff is so lightweight it is impossible to avoid tangling, and every leaf/twig that falls on it gets snarled up. One year I left it on over winter and the cherry tree grew through it... Took ages getting it off with scissors in a hundred little bits!

[d000hg]

I use scaffold debris netting. It's a tighter weave than standard bird netting, and much tougher. It keeps most insects out as well, so obviously you would need to remove it during flowering time, but other than that it does the job well.

That's an interesting idea. It presumably handles more like fleece another poster mentioned.
Saw it on Screwfix £45 for 50x2m roll which isn't bad if it lasts... Sometimes I dead too think how much my fruit costs me £/kg with all this messing about!

[Mr Bones]

I got a load of debris netting from a scaffold company who were more than happy for me to take it away. They cost it into a job and after using just once or twice have to pay to dispose of it. The nets I picked up had a few holes but they repaired easily with a needle and thread. Just this week I've sewn three pieces together to make a 7m x 5m net.

Re storing open mesh net, it's really easy but difficult to explain (sorry, haven't found anything on YouTube that shows how to do it).
Hope this makes sense - hold the whole width of the net in one hand and stretch it out length-ways (like you would to put long hair in an elasticated band). Form a loop at your hand end, fold it over and pull a loop of the long piece through to form a slip knot. Then pull another loop through that and keep repeating to form a chain.
Next time the net is needed just pull on the loose end and it will all come undone without tangles.

[Bren In Pots]

To those using netting draped over things, do you manage to retrieve and reuse it? How do you store it? I find the cheap stuff is so lightweight it is impossible to avoid tangling,

I wind my bean netting around a piece of drainpipe then stand it in the corner until its needed.