Protecting grapes

[tonyhibbett]

I manage 2 large vines which grow on a pergola spanning 7 x 2 metres. Every year I am frustrated by not being able to allow all of the grapes to fully ripen because of birds, resulting in large losses and poor quality wine. Attempts at netting proved impractical and bird scarers ineffective.
I have a cheap walk-in polythene greenhouse which collapsed under the weight of snow. I only needed a few brackets to repair it, but had to buy a complete replacement to get them. Consequently there were lots of poles and brackets left over. I used these to create a sturdy frame, 2 x 3 metres wide and 0.5 metres high and covered it with 2 lots of netting, 5 x 2 metres each and fixed them in place with twist ties. With the aid of a ladder, it was quite easy to place the whole thing on top of one end of the pergola and hook the bottom edges of the net onto it, securing it in place. I will need another greenhouse kit to complete the job, plus more netting to cover the other half of the pergola, otherwise the birds will concentrate their efforts there and I will lose up to half of the crop anyway. The greenhouse was reduced to £46 and the netting was from a pound shop, so the whole job will cost £94, but I now have my greenhouse back and spare covers. To prevent it collapsing again, I have covered the roof with rigid, clear plastic corrugated sheets.

 

[tonyhibbett]

I bought another greenhouse kit. now £50, and removed the heath robinson hotch potch at the end of the 'cage', made up of bits that didn't quite fit, and replaced it with standard lengths. Then I started to extend it and hit a problem. The pergola extends over 2 gardens and the one on the other side is wider, longer and incorporates a tree, which I had to build around. The geometry was somewhat challenging and physically demanding as it had to be assembled in situ, rod by rod, bracket by bracket. It is also clear that I will need twice as much more netting, which is proving hard to find.
I got as far as extending by about 40%, then ran out of rods of the same length, which puzzled me. When I reviewed the assembly instructions, I found the design had changed to incorporated 2 shelves instead of one, so many rod lengths were shorter but extra brackets are supplied. It looks like I'll have to buy yet another greenhouse kit, but first I will modify the existing greenhouse to incorporate the extra shelf and see what's left over.
It's even more important to protect the grapes now that the ring necked parakeets now outnumber the wood pigeons and blackbirds.

 

[tonyhibbett]

The second section has yet to be approved by the relevant neighbours. I have convinced one half of the couple and bribed him with some mature fuel for their wood burning stove and I am sure that the other half will approve, on the basis that the structure need only be in place for a month.