Netting Recommendations

[donksey]

I wonder if you could give me some advice on what sort of netting to buy as bird protection for my veg.
Bottles, plastic owl, cd's and so on are not proving effective.
I want it to be easy to manage not like the fly away rubbish I bought from Wilkinsons, so expect to pay a bit for it.
Maybe somebody could give me tips on how to confer the area with the net.
Many thanks
Andy

[Lumpy]

I use enviromesh everywhere at home. My raised beds and multitude of pots are normally next to the large back garden hedge. This is where most of the UK population of sparrows live, play and breed.
Enviromesh lets in the light and water but keeps out not just the birds but flying and crawling bugs of all kinds.
Our garden centre sells it for £2.99 a meter and it is 4m wide so my last 4x4 cost just under £12. Bargain

[Lumpy]

p.s Your growing area looks brilliant. Well Done You.

[Martin H]

I use scaffold debris netting because it's strong and cheap. I have to say that it's not the most beautiful stuff to look at though, especially in the commonest green-turquoise guise.

[Penellype]

Another vote for enviromesh/veggiemesh/debris netting which are variations on the same thing. I find this effective against cats, birds, butterflies, carrot flies and cabbage root flies. It won't keep out slugs and snails, and probably not aphids or flea beetle.

Supporting nets is always a bit of a pain as you want to be able to get in easily to weed, harvest etc, but it must be anchored sufficiently to keep the pests out and not to blow away in a gale. I use bits from an old blowaway greenhouse and an old fruit cage frame - you can buy variations on the theme with assorted poles and connectors in various places. On soil you need barbed net pegs to anchor the netting at regular intervals, or a good supply of bricks. I've also used scaffolding poles for this, but they are a bit of a pain to move. On hard surfaces I use bricks to hold the netting down. If you build higher than about a metre the connectors have a tendency to break in high winds as the wind can't get through the net fast enough.


Net covering salads and turnips.


Nets covering carrots, cabbages and potatoes.

[donksey]

p.s Your growing area looks brilliant. Well Done You.

Thanks, it was lawn last year and I wanted something a bit more cottage garden, the fencing is to keep my dogs off.
The bricks are old stocks I got for free, which needed cleaning up, I laid them in the soil and compacted them as I went. It took ages.
I just need to cover the pathways with membrane and slate clippings.

I was just going to plant it with perennials and shrubs but I really like growing veg.
I have put my name down for an allotment so my plans my change later.
I guess there are some things that need daily attention so I will keep a plot for herbs and salad leaves.

[Bren In Pots]

Donksey have a look at this thread its got lots of netting ideas plus some photos :-

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...cas_64608.html

[donksey]

Another vote for enviromesh/veggiemesh/debris netting which are variations on the same thing. I find this effective against cats, birds, butterflies, carrot flies and cabbage root flies. It won't keep out slugs and snails, and probably not aphids or flea beetle.

Supporting nets is always a bit of a pain as you want to be able to get in easily to weed, harvest etc, but it must be anchored sufficiently to keep the pests out and not to blow away in a gale. I use bits from an old blowaway greenhouse and an old fruit cage frame - you can buy variations on the theme with assorted poles and connectors in various places. On soil you need barbed net pegs to anchor the netting at regular intervals, or a good supply of bricks. I've also used scaffolding poles for this, but they are a bit of a pain to move. On hard surfaces I use bricks to hold the netting down. If you build higher than about a metre the connectors have a tendency to break in high winds as the wind can't get through the net fast enough.

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Net covering salads and turnips.

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Nets covering carrots, cabbages and potatoes.

Thanks that gives me some ideas.

[kathyd]

I use debris netting on most things, but if you want to keep small pests out you need to stitch up the rows of holes along the middle which the building trade uses to attach it to the scaffolding. However, if you want to protect against larger pests like birds (or cats, or chickens...), but still allow some pollinating insects in, it's fine as it is! We mostly support it using electric cable trunking which works better for us than the blue water piping that's often recommended, but for brassicas we've built a large wooden frame because they grow so tall.

[Python15]

That is one smart garden Andy, well done! Just had to comment on it.

Lumpy, who runs your garden center? That's pretty cheap for enviromesh!! My garden center sells 6m by 2m pre-packed lengths for about a tenner!

[sparrow100]

I can't find enviromesh cheap anywhere - but I get my bird netting from Nutley's Kitchen Garden (Nutley's Kitchen Gardens | Shop Online Easily | Free UK Delivery) because they will cut it to size for you, which is lovely service. So I have my fruit cages all neat and tidy and my fruit safely stashed from pigeon beaks!

[Penellype]

My local Wyevale sells various types of nets cut to length from a roll, although I'm not sure how much they charge per metre. If you want wider than the standard (I did for the big net in my picture), places like Gardening Naturally sell it off the roll online and you can choose both length and width.

[donksey]

I can't find enviromesh cheap anywhere - but I get my bird netting from Nutley's Kitchen Garden (Nutley's Kitchen Gardens | Shop Online Easily | Free UK Delivery) because they will cut it to size for you, which is lovely service. So I have my fruit cages all neat and tidy and my fruit safely stashed from pigeon beaks!

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I like your use of colours, makes the place look very cheerful

[sparrow100]

Thank you!