Cleaning and maintaining a bird netting
Table of contents
A bird netting is a practical and effective solution to protect fruit trees and vegetable gardens from starlings, blackbirds, crows, and other birds.
To reuse your netting for several years in a row, it's recommended to maintain it properly. In this practical guide, we'll give you some useful tips.
Remove the netting after the season
Once the fruit or vegetable harvest is over, you don't need to keep the bird netting in place.
This will limit the netting's exposure to bad weather (frost, storms, etc.) and sunlight.
Although it is made of rot-proof material and has been UV-treated, long-term exposure to sunlight or bad weather inevitably weakens the mesh.
Therefore, not leaving a bird netting constantly in place ensures that you can use it for several years in a row.
You can either decide to roll it up and tie it; or disassemble it to store it during winter.
Remove plant debris
To clean your netting properly, start by removing all plant debris caught in it: this will be dead leaves or small broken branches that get stuck.
Most importantly, clean the entire periphery of the netting, where it is in contact with the ground. Growing grass, brambles, dead branches... all elements that get caught in the mesh.
If you pull on the netting, or fold it, without having removed all plant debris, you will damage the netting and risk making it unusable.
Clean sap and sugar
The bird netting will be exposed to various kinds of dirt.
Tree sap, or sugar from ripe or damaged fruits, will inevitably drip onto the netting. This will make it sticky and will trap other debris and dirt: dust, twigs, dead leaves...
It will therefore be necessary to clean as much fruit sugar and sap as possible.
Brush and rinse with water
Lay the netting flat on a terrace, for example, and clean it.
Do not place it on the grass, where it will again collect plant debris and soil.
You can scrub the netting with a large brush or an outdoor broom:
this is especially true for nettings made with thick thread (1mm and more) and with knotted braided mesh.
Be careful though: bird nettings made of knitted mesh are thinner and more fragile. The mesh can easily tear if you rub it with a broom or a brush that is too stiff.
Therefore, use a brush with plastic bristles, never a metal brush.
Then, rinse the netting with a water jet.
Dry and store away from light
A very important step: before storing it, make sure the netting is completely dry.
Leave it on the ground on the terrace for a few hours, or even a few days, in the sun to dry thoroughly. You can also hang it or raise it so that the water drains better.
It should not be stored while completely damp.
Finally, fold or roll up your netting, and store it for the winter.
Ideally, store it in a dry place away from light: a garage, a basement, an attic...
Do you have a question about your netting? Unsure about its use?
Contact us!
