Using Netting to Protect Your Trees and Shrubs

If you’re a regular reader of the Renco Nets blog then you’ll know that our tailor-made nets can provide vital year-round garden protection. Tying in with this theme, we highlight the best ways of using our netting products to keep birds, insects and other hungry critters away from your trees and shrubs.

Taking your measurements

It’s essential that you buy enough netting for the plant (or part of the plant) that you want to cover. You can find the amount needed to cover a tree by measuring the height from the lowest branch and the width at the widest part. These two figures should then be added together and multiplied by two.

You can find how out much netting is needed to cover your shrubs by measuring up the side of the enclosed area then over the top and down the other side. This process should be repeated to find out the required netting length. It’s always best to order a little extra, given that you’ll need to secure the edges to the ground.

High-quality netting products

Our flexible and lightweight polyethylene netting is the ideal choice for the covering of trees and shrubs. The mesh openings are wide enough to ensure that the feet of hungry birds don’t get caught, yet small enough to prevent the theft of your fresh produce. The fruit of your covered produce will also stay on the branches for longer, only falling at harvesting time. The nets allow for sufficient sunlight, moisture and ventilation to keep your plants in the best condition.

Ensuring year-round cover

Your trees and shrubs will ideally be covered straight after pollination and once the blooming period has begun. The specific timings will vary depending on the weather patterns and the area of the country in which you’re based. However, fruits such as the apricot, pear and apple will typically blossom from March through to May. It’s best to prune and thin out such fruits before covering.

Here are the steps to follow when covering a tree:

1. Lay an appropriately sized piece of netting on the ground
2. Tie a long stick to each corner of the netting and lift to drape over the tree
3. Tie each of the four netting corners to the trunk with twine
4. Seal the four net openings (a needle and thread can be used here)
5. Adjust the net to minimise the bending of the branches and strain on the tree.

Care must be taken when covering your bushes with netting. Any edges should be tucked in, with the netting being secured to the ground where possible. It’s also possible to create a reverse aviary, using a set of poles to surround the bush and support the netting (with the edges being secured to the ground). Or you could place the netting over a hooped bed of shrubs.

Get in touch

Offering twisted polyethylene netting in a variety of mesh sizes, Renco Nets ensure vital protection for everything from garden trees to allotment shrubs. If you’d like any further information about the use of our netting products then please give us a call on 01469 575 804 or email netting@renco.co.uk.