Protecting Ripening Blueberries from Birds

If you've previously had any fruit trees or bushes in your yard, you know how quickly they get picked by the birds once ripe.  Birds hang out all day in the backyard just waiting for the fruit to ripen, whereas I can only go out occasionally to pick what is ripe.  So, you have to learn tricks for keeping the birds out of your fruit until you can get to it yourself! Once you see your blueberries fully formed and there are no more blooms on the bushes, then you can safely cover them from birds.  Before that point, you don't want to cover them, as then the birds and bees wouldn't be able to get to the flowers to pollinate them and create blueberries! I first tried putting a rubber snake under the bushes, but that didn't seem to have any effect. 

Blueberries waiting to ripen

So I had to resort to more extreme measures.  I got this bird netting as a gift so I figured I would give it a shot.  To recreate my setup, put posts in the ground on each side of your blueberry bushes and make sure the posts are taller, when in the ground, than your bushes.  Then spread the netting over top and around the posts, leaving no gaps.  Be sure to leave extra netting at the bottom so you can curl it over the ground to ensure the bottom is closed.  The first year I thought the wire fencing I had behind the bushes would be enough, but I was wrong!  Birds just jumped through the fence, feasted on my blueberries, and then got caught in the netting on the other side trying to get out.  So, I had to also hang a layer of the netting between the bushes and the wire fencing.  Once you have the top and sides secured, then place rocks over the netting bottom where it is laying on the ground.  To connect different sections of netting, I used twist ties and overlapping netting edges to secure.  
 

Four blueberry bushes covered in netting - protected!

The final result isn't pretty, but I can remove a couple twist ties and pull up one side to pick my berries - which are now secure from the birds that want to feast on them!  Also, check out my previous blog posts to find a nice recipe for blueberry muffins.