posted 3 years ago
I am wanting to resurrect a raspberry patch that was planting 5 years ago and neglected due to various crises.
One thing is that it will need both wind and bird shelter. I would also like a semi movable system to rotate wind / bird / frost protection.
Hardwood is not available here in New Zealand - it is all chemical treated radiata pine or untreated can rot within a year.
Make arches with 1.95m x 4,5m cement reinforcing mesh (similar to cattle panels) and put netting or plastic on top. This sounds the easiest, esp something I could set up alone.
The two main options I am looking at are firstly metal T-posts / star-pickets / Y-posts / Waratahs. 2.7m high hammered into 1.8m high (6ft). Then put caps on top, and wire in the top rung, and pull netting over them. For a larger garden this would be more cost effective than multiple arches in terms of netting required, but not so easy to put up / move.
I am also thinking of moving the rasperries to an existing "post and batton" fence line away from animals, and stretching netting over the fence. The wood was treated, but is now at least 30 years old, and judging by how many are rotten, I think most preserving chemicals have gone.
As an option in a few years, I am also looking at the 6m+ high poplars that grew through the holes in the plastic planter bags and weedmat below in our tree nursery before they could be planted out. What if I was to plant poles in a 3m x 3m grid, and when the trunk got to 5cm / 2" diamater, I cut them at 2m high, and then kept the side branches well trimmed for goat food, do you think I could successfully use them as living poles to support netting? My uncle had a wire fence line were many of the fence posts had grown into huge poplar trees with the wire grown into them.
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