Saving my Grapes from the Birds

One of the most frustrating things I find in the garden is to see bunches of grapes forming on the vine, watching them get bigger and then find that the birds have stripped the vine almost overnight.

This year I decided that I would make a sensible move and try to protect them from an avian invasion.

I must first confess that I was a bit slack with the vine maintenance during the winter and failed to prune and tie it back before it had a significant amount of new growth.

So a note to self: This coming winter (2019) I will brave the elements and carry out the necessary vine maintenance before the new spring growth takes hold!

I had previously seen packets of plastic bird netting at the local $2 Shop so thought the small investment would be well worth it.

I bought two packs of netting, each being approximately 6 metres by 2 metres at a cost of $2.50 per pack.

Grape vine with bird netting

With the help of my grandson, we draped the netting from one end of the vine to a point where the netting finished. At this point with a couple of feet of overlap, we stretch the second pack to the end of the vine.

We stapled it to the top of the fence, and then staked it into the ground, thus forming a complete cover for the vine.

I will now wait to see if our efforts have been successful once the fruit are ripe and ready to pick.

END