You planted your fruit trees, berry bushes and strawberries, lovingly cared for them with water and fertilizer, in some cases for several years, and pruned them just so. The time has finally come to reap the rewards. You head outside to taste the first fruits of the season but instead you find either half eaten produce or nothing at all. What do you do?
Well after you’ve finished cursing Mother Nature and yelling at the dog just because he’s there it’s time to take action.
There are several ways of combating the deer, birds, and rodents that seem to wait until just before you’re ready to pick your fruit to help themselves. We’ll stick with non-lethal ways in this article although if you’ve been in the position I described above you may have been willing to use napalm.
Netting is the most effective way to keep birds off your berry plants and cherry trees. They come in various sizes and shapes for covering large areas, trees or rows. Just place them over the area you need protected as the fruit starts to appear. They do not interfere with sunlight, water or sprays.
You can use fencing, deer fortress or an electronic deer repellent to keep deer and other animals out of the area but be sure they completely surround the plants you want to protect. Also for deer and smaller rodents such as mice, rabbits and squirrels there are various products to repel animals such as deer off, deer/rabbit repellent, defence and repels-all.
No matter what you use be sure to start early enough in the season and follow the label directions so that it’s you and not the local four legged or winged freeloaders that enjoy the fruits of your labor.
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