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Better ways for keeping birds out of blueberries!
We’ve come up with a simple and inexpensive technique for keeping birds out of blueberries (and other berries too). Instead of netting, we’re now using sheer, semi-opaque curtain panels and clothes pins.
That’s because, these hold up to wind and rain.
And they’re easy to open and close.
Plus, they’re inexpensive and reusable.
Too, they keep the birds out without catching them in annoying bird netting!
Watch our 2-minute video showing how we’re keeping birds out of blueberries.
Want to pick up the gear you just learned about?
Following are a few affiliate links to quickly get you to gear we use to keep birds out of blueberries (and other berries too)!
(Qualifying purchases made through affiliate &/or sponsored links on this page and others on this site pay a small percentage to Garden Mentors.)
Sheer Curtain Panels
Another Option: Easy zipper no-net bags to keep birds out of blueberries
We’ve also found no-net exclusion bags are also great for keeping birds out of blueberries. Plus, they’re easy to drape over other berries like strawberries! And sometimes they’re easier to access than unclipping clothes pins from sheer curtains. However, the material tends to be a bit heavier than the sheer drapes. And the ties to cinch the bottoms closed don’t often work well in our experience. Plus, while the zipper systems may seem easy to open and close, they do catch sometimes. So they can be challenging. Still, we do use these tools on some of our blueberries, elderberries, and strawberries to keep birds from eating our berries!
Zippered Plant Protection Bags
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When is the best time to keep birds out of blueberries?
You may be wondering when is the best time to protect your blueberries from birds. That’s probably because you realize that pollinators need to reach blueberry flowers so that the berries themselves will form.
In fact that means there are some birds you probably want to have reach your blueberries. And those are hummingbirds!
So that means timing is really important when you’re wrapping your berry bushes. Ideally, wrap them after the flowers have been pollinated but before the fruits show any sign of ripening.
And if you’d like to learn more about attracting hummingbirds to your garden, check out this sneak peek of our Growing a Hummingbird Habitat Garden online seminar for FREE and be sure to sign up so you’re notified as soon as the full program is next available!
Want to see an example of a hoop house enclosure for blueberries?
Reader Steve E. wrote to use privately asking for more information about building a hoop house for blueberries. He says:
“I have about 10, 4′ blueberry plants planted in a clump. I watched your video about the curtain sheets. At the end you quickly mentioned what sounded like a “hoop”. The comment went by so fast, I’m not sure what you are talking about. Can you let me know? Just saw a catbird in the berries this am. I agree the netting is not the way to go.”
To clarify, a “hoop” refers to building a hoop house style greenhouse around berry bushes. But instead of wrapping it in plastic, which would build too much heat for berry bushes, we’d wrap a hoop with something more breathable like fleece or the same curtains.
Check out a photo example of a fleece wrapped hoop house here.
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Still interested in bird netting for keeping birds out of blueberries?
Yep, it’s about that time when the fruit begins to turn from green to pale gray and then suddenly dots of deep purple-blue cover the shrubs. And, we humans aren’t the only ones watching for the day those sweet orbs are ready to devour. All sorts of wild birds are out there keeping an eye on our crops, too.
Fortunately, it’s relatively easy to keep birds out of your blueberry patch. All it takes is a bit of temporary netting. And now’s the time to wrap your shrubs in this simple, near-invisible material. But, really, our newer method in the video is our favorite way to keep birds out of our blueberry patch.
Tips on how & when to work with netting.
Although netting could go up earlier in the season, when shrubs are in bloom, we tend to wait until the fruits are a bit more formed. Blooms tend to easily break free from the bushes under the simplest touch, and without those flowers, no fruits would form. Not-quite-ripe berries, on the other hand, are usually more tightly attached to the shrubs, and while fragile, don’t seem to break off as readily. So, that’s when we put out the netting.
Covering a blueberry bush in netting is fairly simple. Unroll (or if you’re recycling last year’s netting, untangle) your netting, so it will roll out relatively easily. You don’t want to be struggling with it a lot as you’re putting it over the delicate branches and fruit.
Carefully drape the netting over the entire bush or patch, taking care to tuck the edges of the fabric around all of the fruit. If possible, cover the plant all the way to the ground or some wily birds will hop under the netting and gorge themselves from underneath.
And, that’s about it.
Here are reasons we don’t like bird netting anymore…
Keep an eye on the patch and the netting. Some dingbat birds — especially new fledglings — may still try to get to your fruit, tangling themselves in the netting along the way. We caught a young robin in our netting a few years back and were able to set it free. We have heard tales of other gardeners finding dead birds strangled in netting.
Also, netting makes harvesting more difficult.
If you do choose to use bird netting for keeping birds out of blueberries…
When your fruit is ripe, and you’re ready to harvest, carefully lift the netting away from your fruit to pick. Or, duck under the netting as you go. As the fruit becomes more ripe, its attachment to the branch also weakens with the intent being to release the seed-filled fruit to the soil where it may form a baby plant. So, try to disturb the netting only minimally to reduce the risk of breaking off ripening fruit.
After your harvest is over, you’re free to remove the netting and store it for the following year. Or, move it from the finished blueberries to other fruit that ripens later — perhaps a late season blueberry patch, goji berries or even your blackberries. If you don’t get to removing the netting right away, don’t worry about it. It’s easy enough to take off your plants when you’re raking up leaves in autumn
I thought maybe putting a cage around my raised raspberry patch with chicken wire and covering the top with netting. Will that work to keep the birds out? Or maybe even smaller fencing? Netting gets so tangled in the bush, that I find it a pain to work with.
Vicki, let us know how that works out for you. It sounds like a lot of work to set up and a lot of stuff to wrestle with during harvest. But, it could be the right option for you. Good luck!
Unroll (or if you’re recycling last year’s netting, untangle) your netting, …..ha…you said a mouthful there. If someone could come up with a way to store it back the way it came, they would be a millionaire
Yep, Jimmy…there’s a market for tangle-free netting for sure!
I tried this last year, it ripped every berry and flower off my bushes. I had to collect from the ground, and lost a lot of un-ripened berries. This year I plan to build a protective barrier around the plant.
That’s too bad. You’ve got to be very careful and gentle when working with bird netting. And, timing to put the netting out and take it down is important so you don’t damage your flowers & fruit. Sorry you lost so much! Good luck in 2014!
I covered my strawberries with netting like this. 15 minutes it had captured one bird and killed another. This netting is almost invisible and birds fly right into it. I took it off and threw it away. I’ll look for another deterrent or accept some lost berries
Build a in closure using 1×2’s and wire netting. Take 1×2-8ft and cut to height drive these into ground like stakes. Make several square or rectangular frames that are small enough to manage by yourself. Get some z brackets from hardware store attach to 1×2 that you drove into ground and hang frames on them. Repeat for the top just make wide enough to lay on top of sides. They store easily and last for years
Thanks for the post on netting. For berry bushes. I also have stopped using netting when I found a dead chipmunk tangled in netting around strawberries. I felt so bad about that. I have seen so e products for pop up screen tents for protecting plants, but I have not wanted to go to the trouble or expense. For now, I am just sharing with nature and trying to harvest what we can!
Tried bird netting and it was awful. Catches on the bush and is extremely difficult to remove. Rolling up, storing and untangling is another problem. Tried building a support from plastic 1/2″ tubing made into an “X” and drape the bird netting over the tubing to keep the netting off the bush. But the best solution I have found Tulle. Bought 50 yds of 108″ wide tulle and it can be easily cut with scissors to the desired size and draped right over the plant. Doesn’t catch nearly as much as the bird netting and is easy to remove and is tangle free.
I agree with the awful part. Tried this and it does NOT work. If you’re ready to actually pick some berries for your self you can’t move the netting or it will rip off any berries and branches its contacted too. I haver 40 blue berry bushes and still not sure what to do. Mt landscaper suggests giving it up and sharing with the birds. probably what I’ll do. we have an added level of difficulty her in the mountains of NC… bears! This comes under the # third world problems.
OMG… That’s it….. I’ve cornered the market in Tulle!
The holes look too small to let birds or the 7 year locusts in or the berries to get tangled in. You have to be able to take it on and off… different parts of the bush get ripe at different times. Thank you, Mark. haven’t need tulle for 30 years since ours kids were in Ballet!
Tulle might be the answer, but you would need to be sure the bees have finished their work before putting up the tulle.
Plastic bird netting is a very bad idea for anything unless you are going to make an all out effort to make a very solid framework on which to secure the netting leaving no openings for birds to enter. If not, birds will get in and get trapped and either get tangled in netting and break a wing or a leg as they fight to free themselves, or they will simply die of heat exhaustion and dehydration. this is no way to treat wildlife. A much better and permanent solution is to buy hardware mesh, which is much more stable and easier albeit a bit more expensive, and attach it with a staple gun to a wood framework. You can then create a door to enter your enclosed blueberry patch.
Julie, that’s a creative way to go. Thanks for sharing.
I use bird netting for my blueberries and yes, it catches on the branches somewhat, but it’s not a problem. My 7 plants are in a 6-1/2′ diameter circle so it’s easy to just lift up the netting a little and reach under or get completely under it. I really don’t mind most birds getting some berries, but I dislike Mocking birds and their bad behavior, so they are why I use the netting and they seem to be the only ones that get caught up in it. I’m on the verge of building somewhat of a cage around it. Hopefully by next year. A 16′ hog panel would fit perfectly around and it’s 4-1/3’high. It’ll help keep the limbs confined and make it easier to walk around. My yard is a jungle. My plan is to use pvc pipe. 4 10′ pipes pushed 2′ into the ground with 45s on top going to a center cross fitting. That way a 20′ diameter net would drape over it beautifully and the hog panel is real easy to reach into. I could even open it up a little wider, thus having a small door to climb into the middle if necessary.
Thanks for chiming in James. Your new cage method sounds really interesting. Keep in touch to let us know how it works out!
I use the bird netting and it worked out fine. I only have three bushes. Of various sizes. On my biggest bush I took 4 bamboo 6 foot poles and hammered them into the ground around the bush about a foot out. That will keep netting from tangling in the bush as bad. Then took two lengths of plastic tubing crossed each other to make a dome in an x shape. Used some tape to hold it together at the top. Placed the end into the bamboo and tape to hold, place netting over and used landscape hooks to hold it to the ground to keep birds out. Just used tubing on the smaller bushes. I never had so many blueberries. I could actually freeze some last year.
Thanks for sharing your successes Mary!
I have used fine bridal netting closed off with clothespins and they STILL get in! I think I will have to do the wire cage. Mine are in very large pots (15 plants) and I have to water a lot and fertilize but I get tons of beautiful, huge blueberries that the birds enjoy more than me, so I am at the store buying them! I will have to build about 5 cages but at this point, I am not going to let them con me out of the berries. They do NOT share.