Fruit cage - how tall?

[Kaiya]

I have a gooseberry bush and some raspberry canes. I'm looking to make my first ever construction project a 3m x 1m fruit cage, made out of 1x1 and chicken wire I expect. It's mostly to stop the birds but also potential two legged pests since our lottie and these bushes back onto the main footpath through the allotments.

The raspberry canes were bareroot, I think summer fruiting (magazine free offer from last year), so are only 6 inches tall at the moment. There are four gooseberries - two young bushes, about a foot tall each, and two 2-3 inch high twigs (I planted the two prunings I did and they both took off).

I'm assuming that although the gooseberry bushes won't exceed about a metre in height, the raspberry canes may well grow taller?

[binley100]

But you won't want to be bent double when you're harvesting. We're just building ours now ......grounds not very level but at the tallest point it's 2 mtrs .

[Bigmallly]

Kaiya, my advice would be to make it out of 2x2 for the extra few quid & as tall as you can. Mine is 7 foot high only because the wood was 8 foot long & 1 foot is in the ground. Plus, you may also decide to grow 1 or 2 fruit trees so you already have the height.

[veggiechicken]

My raspberry canes are at least 6' tall, I get lost in amongst them.
As Bins said^^^^ you don't want to bend double in there, especially if you're growing prickly gooseberry bushes.
Have a good think about the wire you buy too, the smaller the mesh the better. Chicken wire may keep out blackbirds but not the smaller birds.. If you want to reduce the costs, you could use plastic netting over the top, or along one side to give you better access.
I sometimes make temporary fruit cages using stakes and plastic netting but the birds always manage to get in - usually because it isn't flush with the ground. They just creep under it!

[binley100]

We're using pond netting ........

[Kaiya]

Ahh - I was envisaging lifting it/taking a lid off to access the plants, rather than having a walk in structure. There's no path included in that area, it's basically a 3m x 1m bed. I may be underestimating the ingenuity of the birds at getting in if it has a lid, or indeed over estimating my own ingenuity in building such a thing!

Oh and this may throw a spanner in the works - apparently the raspberries are autumn, not summer (Autumn Bliss my notes say). Which makes them... shorter?

[chris]

My allgold (autumn) are ~6' too... they're on an exposed east facing wall too, no doubt would be taller if sheltered.

[bearded bloke]

the raspberries are autumn, not summer (Autumn Bliss my notes say). Which makes them... shorter?

Same as mine they got to 4 ft high last year