Enviromesh, nets, contraptions or what.

[Alice]

I've got my raised bed covered in contraptions to keep pigeons off. Bit of a nuisance moving things about when I need to get in there. I'd like a good solution and can spend some money on the project.
Questions
Is enviromesh all it's cracked up to be and do I need it. Don't have any pest problem I can see.
Would large nets layed over canes do the job for me.
Any other suggestions. I'm looking for something easy to manage for access to the beds.

[sewer rat]

Hi Alice
Environmesh is good stuff but very expensive - if you don't have an insect pest problem then netting would probably do the job - but butterfies may still get at your crops so buy netting with as small a mesh as you can.
Can't really tell from your photos what sort of area you need to protect but have you thought about constructing a large fruit cage type of frame over the whole lot. You can cover this netting and incorporate a door so no need to remove netting until winter when a larger mesh net should be used to stop snow sitting on it. I have seen them advertised quite a lot - quite expensive but I'm just rebuilding one in a walled garden with 4" x 2" timber. The netting was cheap - £55 plus VAT for a roll 4m by 100m.

[Alice]

Thanks Rat, yes I had thought about it but wish I had thought sooner. We had to fence the whole kitchen garden area to keep the beepin deer out. It has 6 foot high fencing all round it on very sturdy posts and that stiff green plasticised wire stuff. I need to cover 3 raised beds - 4' x 15' each. I have been wondering whether to just net these beds or if it's possible to put a "roof " on this area using the fence as support and create a big walk in area like a giant fruit cage. It is a big area and with the fence only 6' high. But I'll think on it. Thanks for the suggestion.

[flowerlady]

....................
The netting was cheap - £55 plus VAT for a roll 4m by 100m.

Thats amazing where did you get it from??

[Birdie Wife]

Enviromesh is excellent and I wish I had the cash to buy more, it lets the light and rain through but no pests. I use it mostly for covering frost-vulnerable seedlings but I think if I had the cash to cover whole beds in the stuff, I'd spend the cash on something else!

[xspye]

Enviromesh is excellent, but it is expensive. I have enough to cover my brassica bed to keep the butterflys off and use cheaper bigger mesh to keep the birds etc out of every where else

[JennieAtkinson]

Alice - even though expensive I thought Enviromesh worth it for the brassica bed after losing so much to cabbage white last year. But like others, use a cheaper mesh elsewhere.

What do you have on the top of your poles? They look interesting !

[shirlthegirl43]

Can I ask what size 'holes' enviromesh has? I have some pond netting which I use to keep the cat off my raised bed - will this also keep off insects? I don't think cabbage whites would be able to get through as the mesh is about 1 x 1.5cm. Madmax has just spent ages putting up a nice big frame for me to net off the bed so that we get some veg this year (instead of the critters getting it).