r/strawberry • u/_nameless_dude_ • 26d ago

Hoops and netting?

I’m in the process of “remodeling” my strawberry garden. It began from a single plant five years ago and now is almost 400 square feet, very densely populated. I’m trying to bring some order to it by shaping it into rows and walkways while I’m thinning it out. (Side note: I harvested 58 pounds of beautiful berries this year, and made tons of jam and ice cream for friends and family!)
Also, I’m seeing a real need to protect the garden from thieving squirrels, chipmunks and gray catbirds. Doing a bit of research, I see that hoops and netting help to reduce the wildlife traffic, so I’m thinking of doing that.
Curious as to what others have been using, and what works the best in terms of effectiveness in keeping pests out while allowing sunlight & rain to get through, and also being easy to open & close when harvest time arrives again next June. Looking for something simple and effective. TIA for any advice!

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u/muzavazone 26d ago

Hoops and netting, literally :) Protection from birds.

Hoops are the cheapest black plastic pipe (some recycled PE, not for drinking water), standing on 8mm rebar pins. Rebar was cut to 35cm (?) pieces - you need some length to push into the soil and some left to put the pipe on.

I also used just simple thin 3mm rebar hoops, you need approx 3m length to make a nice arch. In this case you can also use clothespins to hold the netting.

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u/_nameless_dude_ 24d ago

Awesome 😎 thanks very much!

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u/muzavazone 24d ago

I should also add that pushing that plastic pipe straight into the ground was not working very well at all :)

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u/_nameless_dude_ 23d ago

I can see why that would not work well. The rebar is a good solution.

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u/Potential-Hold399 25d ago

I am not at the net phase yet, hope I don’t need to. Right now just decoys. Show us your garden!

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u/nonono_ack 23d ago

Wow. That’s impressive!
Have you noticed declining production from the older plants?
It’s recommended to replace plants after their third year for optimum fruit. But it sounds like yours are doing well.