Berry Enticing Guest Gardening Post [Lex]

Don't those berries look enticing? Their fresh season is over in the Boston area, I think, but I have a friend who makes blueberry pie for Thanksgiving using frozen berries. Think about it: Blueberries are American berries, perfect for Thanksgiving!

As you read the inspiring guest post from Lex, think about berries that might be suited to your climate and maybe even to your own garden next year.
K.T.

Take it away, Lex!

I bought a home in the metro-Boston area in 2009. Major renovations, which included a new landscape design, occurred in 2010. Among the fresh plantings was a bank of blueberry bushes.

I cannot remember if the positioning of the bushes was intentional or not, but because they were close to the house and never in all day sunlight (with irrigation able to provide ample coverage), they survived all winters, droughts, and potentially damaging storms.

From 2010 - 2019, the bushes grew, but I did not notice much fructification. Covid brought a lot of misery, but one silver lining about being forced to stay near home was paying more attention to the plantings. In the summer of 2020, it was impossible not to see a nicely developing crop of blueberries.

But I was not the only one who noticed.

At the end of July 2020, I went away for a week. When I left, the berries were beginning to ripen, but I delayed the harvest until my return. I figured…what’s a few days.

When I got back all the fruit was gone. Birds took every single berry.

For the following year, I vowed to protect the crop.

Typically these bushes blossom in May/June and the fruit begins to develop soon after. The berries are green into July when they start to turn red, then purple, and eventually blue. By the end of July or early August, they are ready to be picked. Birds mostly ignore the berries until these few critical weeks.

In July of 2021, I employed reflective tape and fake owls. This did nothing, and I lost another crop.

In 2022 and 2023, I tried traditional bird netting, but the mesh was not thick enough to deter. Several birds got caught in the nets, and I had to free a few while others died.

In 2024, I upped my game to deer netting. This is tougher stuff and the birds did not risk direct attack, but because this netting is not malleable it was difficult to drape it over the bushes without knocking off many berries. Thus, I had to stretch the netting high over the bushes, tying it to porch posts on one side while securing it to the ground with lawn staples on the other. This created many gaps, and the birds (especially Blue Jays) were able to fly or hop underneath and steal the fruit.

Additionally, if they did get stuck in the netting, the mad flapping that ensued caused many berries to fall off. Between theft and spillage, 2024 was another lost season.

Finally, in 2025, a solution arrived in the form of ‘thule’ or fine mesh netting. These nets are light and flexible, and I was able to gently drape them over the bushes and zip them shut. They are impossible to penetrate and light enough so deploying them causes few berries to shake loose.

2025 yielded a fine, unpoached crop, and I expect 2026 and beyond to be nothing but successful.

Like Gettysburg for the North in the early going, it was bleak, but at the end of the day I prevailed in The Great Blueberry Bush Battle.

Gardens of The Horde

K.T. back again. Wasn't The Great Blueberry Bush Battle a wonderful representation of determination? Loved the detailed photos of the protective covers, which I expect would be great for some other crops, too!

Anything going on in your garden? Thinking about planting berries next year? Watch for climate adaptation.

Planning a trip to look at fall leaves?

Hope everyone has a nice weekend.

If you would like to send photos, stories, links, etc. for the Saturday Gardening Thread, the address is:

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Week in Review

What has changed since last week's thread? Gardening, Home and Nature Thread, Sept. 27

Is your grass still growing a foot a week? Check out the late comments for tips on pears and other edibles.

I closed the comments on this post so you wouldn't get banned for commenting on a week-old post, but don't try it anyway.

posted by K.T. at 01:05 PM

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