How to net fruit trees to protect your produce | Gardening 101 | Gardening Australia

Hannah shows how she safely and effectively nets her fruit trees to protect the produce from hungry wildlife. Subscribe 🔔 ab.co/GA-subscribe
It’s important to welcome wildlife into our gardens and we can play a key role in creating habitats for all sorts of animals in an urban environment. Sharing some of your fruit and vegie crops encourages them into your garden for you to enjoy.
Hannah’s garden is full of different fruit and nut trees and most years allows for 20% to be eaten by wildlife. But her recent crops were almost completely decimated by birds. So, this year she’s netting a few trees so there’s something to left for her family to eat too!
Hannah’s simple netting frame:
Materials:
Wildlife safe netting - white, with holes no larger than what your pinky finger can fit through.
4 star pickets
Poly pipe
High tensile wire
Strong tape
Steps:
Hammer each picket into the ground evenly around the tree
Measure out the length of poly pipe by using a long piece of high tensile wire between two opposite pickets. It’s important to have the right length of poly pipe to clear the tree, so the netting doesn’t sit right up against it.
Cut two lengths of poly pipe to size
Place each end on a picket so the two pieces are crossing diagonally. Secure with some tape where they meet at the top.
Add your net over the top and secure it firmly at the base.
The net will also provide some frost protection over winter, or you can simply throw a sheet or frost protection material over the top of the frame.
Other tips for protecting fruit:
For large trees, bag individual fruit with wildlife-safe netted bags.
Try some strategic pruning in summer after harvesting. This will help keep the tree nice and compact, prevent excessive growth, and make it easier to net. This is different to winter pruning, which encourages growth.
For less tree mass to manage, choose a dwarf or semi-dwarf cultivar.
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