To net or not to net??

[The Griff]

After growing fruit and veg in my garden for the last few years I have never had to net anything apart from fruit to protect them from birds and onion set sets to stop crows picking them out, never netted any greens and never had a problem.
This year I have got half a plot to work and the pigeons are apparently a big problem, upto now I have got kale, winter and summer cabbage, broccoli and spuds planted all of which are netted apart from the spuds.

Will I need to net my sweet corn, leeks and onions (from seed) or will the birds not bother them?
I was hoping to get my corn in tonight if I can but won't have time if I have to net them as well.

[Thelma Sanders]

I don't net sweetcorn, although I do have to put some string and canes around the bed, to keep them fairly upright on my windy plot!

I do net my leeks but with enviromesh to protect from leek moth/allium leaf miner, the birds didn't bother them in the past.

The birds only bothered onion sets when first planted, so I just used to lay some netting over them until they were rooted, the birds left alone after that.

[Cadalot]

As Thelma with the exception of fencing the sweet corn to stop the ruddy foxes from playing on the bed and wiping the corns out

[skeggijon]

I don't bother netting Sweetcorn or Aliums.

[teakdesk]

Another ditto.

I didn't believe people when I got my plot and they said pigeons were a major problem... until my old nets got a hole and all my black kale was stripped to the core overnight.

They also got into my purple sprouting broccoli when snow damaged the nets - imagine a 30 inches long fully-eaten sweetcorn cob standing upright and each of my plants looked just like that!

Luckily the pigeons didn't venture too far into the caged area and I didn't lose too much but I make sure I check over winter now.

[Muddy_Boots]

You need to net ALL brassicas on our plots else the pigeons ave 'em. A fox got one of 'em last year that obviously couldn't take off quick enough after it had gorged itself on one of the poor unsuspecting newbies cabbages after he didn't heed the warnings we gave him. I just cleared up the last of the feathers off my plot this week whilst digging which was the scene of the murder.

Sweetcorn and carrots is the other thing that needs fencing off else the Badgers get 'em, red soft fruit like Strawbs and Raspberries also need netting from the Blackbirds.

All we need now is for the grey squirrels to take a fancy to something and we will have the full set of pests raiding our plots. lol

[Nicos]

^^^^ you missed out pheasant and deer!...both are a pain in the ......

[craftymarie]

Is there anything much that doesn't need netting

[Martin H]

Is there anything much that doesn't need netting

Potatoes. That's about it...

[The Griff]

So leeks, onions and sweet corn for the time being should be ok without a net?
What about peas and beans, will they be ok until they start to give a crop or will the birds eat the small plants?
Don't have a problem with badgers and the fox's arent using this bit of the plot, they get fed next door.

[craftymarie]

So leeks, onions and sweet corn for the time being should be ok without a net?
What about peas and beans, will they be ok until they start to give a crop or will the birds eat the small plants?
Don't have a problem with badgers and the fox's arent using this bit of the plot, they get fed next door.

I don't think peas and beans are safe either. The pigeons started eating my runner beans and nipped the top off one of them as well so I had to net those.

[Penellype]

It really depends where you are and what pests you have. I have a suburban type garden so I am not bothered by things like deer, rabbits, foxes or pigeons, but I do have issues with cats. I don't have allium leaf miner (yet) but I do have large numbers of brassica pests like caterpillars and flea beetles and I have a huge problem with gooseberry sawfly.

I net all carrots and brassicas from the start, and have put up a permanent net over my gooseberry and blackcurrant. I net spinach and lettuce after the end of May as these can get eaten by caterpillars. I net soft fruit against birds.

I don't net peas, beans, courgettes, cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes, leeks, onions, herbs or apples.