Hi… Lee wrote and asked if I would just outline how I do my netting supports.
So I’ve just gathered a few snaps to try to go over how I make the hoops for the netting to cover.
The polypipe is pretty much just irrigation pipe. It comes in various diameter widths – this one is slightly bigger than the smallest, maybe a couple of centimetres. The main thing now it that its wide enough to slip over the sturdy stakes you choose to act as the main supports.
The stakes above I got from Ruby’s place. I think they were from tomato cages.
In the past I have also bought rebar… iron bars that are about the same width as above.
This method is slightly different than from how I first started making these, where I screwed the polypipe onto wooden garden stakes.
This is much easier.
The metal or hard stake is pushed down into the soil… with one on the opposite side of the bed, then the pipe just slips down over the stake!
The curve is natural and its all self supporting!!! Too easy right?
So you can easily adjust to the size of your beds too… for example our raspberry patch…
We got really large irrigation pipe…
They fit snugly over the steel droppers that we banged into the ground and they are sturdy as anything.
This has now been there two years – we don’t leave the net on over winter but leave the structure up.
And because its all just smooth pipe, stretching the netting over it is so easy. Jeff and I can happily manage this without outside helping hands
We don’t like staking the net into the ground, rather just use timber or bricks to weight the net to the ground. We need to lift it periodically to mow and pulling up pegs is a pain. (and if you don’t mow for a while you lose them in the grass!)
I need to get more of these. I got them in Japan – they are used to peg bedding to balcony rails to air. Its surprisingly hard to find similar wide pegs here.
I like to use them when attaching netting to raised beds.
I have two types of netting. The one above which allows bees and other insects in and out for pollination.
I have another couple of sets of netting that has a fine weave and I use it on plants that dont need pollination, esp those I am trying to keep the cabbage moths off (broccoli) Does a grand job.
You should check nets daily and stretch them as firmly as you can, as you don’t want to risk birds or other animals getting tangled and dying in them, which would be terrible.
The great thing I have found with this method is its flexibility… I can adjust the size needed per bed and just cut the pipe as needed. The materials are inexpensive and last for many many seasons. Even my first ones that I made with the stakes years ago I am still using. The nets can get torn, but I have cut them down or tidied them up and made use of them on smaller beds. So I get fairly long term use out of those too.
Hope this is fairly clear for those of you wanting to create a deterrent to rabbits etc (or chooks lol) or those blackbirds that dig up everything!!
Feel free to ask any other questions and I’ll try to help!
Cheers!
