Fruit Cage.

[carolinej]

Hello, my  new lottie has lots of fruit bushes on it. I am wondering whether to make a fruit cage, as there are loads of birds in the area. Does anyone have any advice on the best way to buid one.

thanks

cj :)

[carolinej]

[Hyacinth]

canes with cheapo tennis balls (Poundland, etc.) stuck into them with mesh draped over is good!

[cambourne7]

buy one its easier and will not collapse in the wind as easly

http://www.lbsgardendirect.co.uk/category.asp?cat_id=fruitcage&pf_id=&jump=8&sfile=1

[busy_lizzie]

Not an expert and I am sure there are other more professional ways, but we do a very simple one at our allotment.

We place four stakes in the ground to make a square shape, to cover the fruit bushes, you can have it any height you want them. This has a wooden frame nailed on the top, that joins up the stakes.

We nail netting, can be wire netting, to two sides of our square. So there is a back and front bare. Then we get two long pieces of wood which are equal to the width of the top of the square and sides, and nail some soft netting onto each of it's lengths, long enough to stretch from the ground back bit to the front ground bit.  These are placed over the square frame from front to back.  One  wooden length is left on the ground at the back and the other one is rolled over the frame to the ground at the front, so everything is covered.  When we need to get in to pick the fruit or weed the area, the netting at the front is rolled around it's length of wood to give  as much access as is needed.  

Do hope that is clear,sorry if it sounds muddled. Really need a diagram, but hope you get the gist.  :) busy_lizzie  

[Barnowl]

Remember it will need a gate with room to swing open...

I didn't ???

[jennym]

But what fruit do you have? Say this because not all fruit seems to get eaten by birds here. The worst ones to get attacked are the redcurrants, but have not had any problems with blackberries, raspberries gooseberries or strawberries. To be honest I'm not sure it's worth doing fruit cages for these as I've found it makes very little difference to the yield.

[Trevor_D]

My plot is at the very end, ie nearest to the hedgerow and the pigeons! I never had a single gooseberry until last year when they were inside a fruit cage. Then we picked pounds of them: the three friends who helped us pick refused to take any more home with them and our freezer is still full! (From 3 bushes!)

But make sure it's sturdy. We inherited ours from friends who were moving house. It was rather bent when we started, and the winds this winter bent it even more! Finally the heavy snow collapsed the whole lot!!! So I'm faced with some serious re-building this spring.

Trevor

[carolinej]

But what fruit do you have?

Strawberries, Gooseberries, Jostaberries, Blackcurrants.

cj :)

[ACE]

A nice sturdy cage can be made from old steel gas pipe or metal conduit. Easy to get from any scrapyard. You can even get the corners and t joints. the threads are universal and most plumbers will have a thread making die. Clip your netting to it with those cheap plastic spring clips you can get on the markets for a couple of quid. That way you just lift the side you want to get in.

[cambourne7]

yep i was going to use scafolding poles even found a cheap supplier.

BUT

there is so much metal being nicked from the site i darnt risk it.

The one i have picked has galvanised steel tubing but looks like plastic so less likly to be nicked.

Certanly for the size i want (34ft by 14ft ) i need a door and the price includes -

- Framework made from durable galvanised steel tubing
- Fittings
- Door
- Side netting - black rigid polypropylene with 19mm square mesh
- Top netting - dark green knitted mesh
- Ground staples
- Net fasteners