Thinking of growing some blueberries

paulemar · Nov 30, 2012

Here's what our blueberry "cage" looked like in progress. My wife got tired of the birds cleaning us out and our first attempt, which you can see the remains of in the upper left, failed during a heavy snow. This framing is made from 3/4" PVC pipe and fittings and then covered with 5' high chicken wire on the sides and top. the wire is held on by plastic zip ties. We had 0 losses this past season. The upright pipe is slipped over metal stakes purchased from Home Depot which are usually used for concrete frame supports, I think.

Tractor Seabee · Dec 1, 2012

I have blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and my 70 X 70 garden behind a 7' electric fence. Since activating the fence the deer stay away. Other varmintys eithr don't lke the strands 6"' and 12" off the ground or are not interested. First year here the deer wiped us out overnight. I use the raspberries you mow off every fall, sure a lot easier than tying back the new canes. For some reason the deer do not bother corn so it is outside the fence.

Ron

forgeblast · Dec 1, 2012

Nice Cage I really like that.

dmccarty · Dec 1, 2012

forgeblast said:
...
Dan, I bought at one time 50 year old plants from a gentle man in NC. Dan Finch Blueberry Plant Nursery (North Carolina) dan finch is the company. Product was good, I just was overwhelmed with animals and did not have anything fenced in. ...

:laughing::laughing::laughing: Finch is who we planned to buy from! :thumbsup:

Later,
Dan

jymbee · Dec 1, 2012

cmhyland said:
Hi guys,

I'm thinking of growing some blueberry bushes. I'm interested in seeing photos of enclosures people have made to hold fencing and netting, as well as other methods people use to keep the deer and birds out.

Thanks,
Chris

Hi Chris,

I've used a number of different ways to protect our blueberries from hungry birds. Last year's solution was by far the most effective.

Basically I just cut a number of poles, drive them in the ground and attached cross piece poles along the tops. The bird netting comes in 14' widths and 30+ feet long so by cutting it lenthwise each half was long enough to wrap around one end and all the way down one side. Other half took care of the other end/side. Last thing was to cut one more piece to cover all.

The netting is just hung on some common nails at the top and bottom of each pole. By FAR the easiest method I've used to attach the netting to the support. Very easy to lift off for picking access or to trim grass. At the end of the season it just took a few minutes to take down all the netting which will get put back in time for next season.

We get many gallons of berries each year from this small berry patch. My picking crew is pretty fussy, but as you can see from the last pic, they seem to approve of the system.

Tim

cqaigy2 · Dec 1, 2012

hmm, i wish my dogs would pick blueberrys like that cat does.

paulemar · Dec 3, 2012

jymbee said:
Hi Chris,

I've used a number of different ways to protect our blueberries from hungry birds. Last year's solution was by far the most effective.

Basically I just cut a number of poles, drive them in the ground and attached cross piece poles along the tops. The bird netting comes in 14' widths and 30+ feet long so by cutting it lenthwise each half was long enough to wrap around one end and all the way down one side. Other half took care of the other end/side. Last thing was to cut one more piece to cover all.

The netting is just hung on some common nails at the top and bottom of each pole. By FAR the easiest method I've used to attach the netting to the support. Very easy to lift off for picking access or to trim grass. At the end of the season it just took a few minutes to take down all the netting which will get put back in time for next season.

We tried the bird netting and the very heavy gauge deer netting. It kept the birds out until the rabbits and chipmunks chewed holes in the net. Then we had birds that managed to find their way in but couldn't find their way out. That's why my dear wife said "enough" and had me make a new cage with the chicken wire.
Taking the bird/deer netting down each winter would have prevented the collapse of our original try. I used those same spikes mentioned in my earlier post on each side and slipped 1" plastic pipe used for wells over both to form an arch. I then used some 1/2" PVC to connect the 10 arches together at the top. The idea had merit, but a very heavy wet snow stuck to the netting and the weight bent everything down on top of the blueberries. I think that happened in the 3rd winter it was up, so it lasted pretty good. I'm hoping that the new PVC frame and chicken wire will withstand a similar snow storm.

Baby Grand · Dec 4, 2012

We have 18 "tall bush" blue berry bushes, planted 3 x 6 by the previous owner. They are surrounded by 8 cedar posts and spanned across the top with sections of 2" galvanized pipe and 2x2's. The birds used to clean us out before we'd get more than a taste. The The Plant Manager got a tip while talking to the local ag extension gal that a local tobacco farmer had left some used tobacco netting in a free pile at the end of his farm drive. The Plant Manager crammed her Ford Focus so full of netting that she could barely get into the car. Now we get lots of berries - enough for a few pies, waffles, pancakes and a dozen pints of bb jam. The posts have just about rotted out as the area is very wet 90% of the time. I plan to replace the posts with more of the same and replace the cross pieces with pvc or conduit this Summer. I'll see if I can find some pictures for reference.

Best tasting blueberries I ever had were low bush, about the size of green peas, from a granite hilltop in Maine. The plants grew in wide crevices between the rocks and they burned the hilltop every fall. I just remember picking and looking all around, enjoying the view and hoping no bears had the same idea.

forgeblast · Dec 4, 2012

A local u-pick place near me was telling me that to increase his production he keeps his bushes at 6 "stems" or branches coming out of the ground. He will cut the older ones out every now and then to make sure the plant is producing new branches.