Well now - time to put a net on one of the beds today to keep the cabbage whites off the brussel sprouts and other brassicas.
In keeping with our theme, all the parts for this are designed to quickly dismantle and store flat, Most importantly they are designed to move from bed to bed with crop rotation strategies. Once constructed, they should take no more than 10 minutes to put up or take down in season and less than one minute to open the net wide for weeding (something I find a chore with most netting arrangements).
So - our starting point was a standard sized bed , with a central ridgeline and conduit hoops.
A Tunnel Frame Built by
British Red, on Flickr
What I need to add now is a way to secure the bottom of the net that keeps out the insects and birds, but allows quick, easy access for planting and weeding etc.
I have chosen to do this using another type on 20mm pipe - a long coil of 20mm blue MDPE.
B MDPE, fixings etc by
British Red, on Flickr
Although MDPE will bend, it doesn't do 90 degree bends - I also want to be able to "unclip" just one side of the net - so I am going to cut two long and two short pieces of pipe and join them with these elbow joints
C Inspection Elbow by
British Red, on Flickr
Unfortunately this cheap type don't come with any way of screwing them down - easily fixed with a drill though
D Drilled Elbow by
British Red, on Flickr
A 4x40mm brass screw fixed one to each corner of the top edge of the bed
E Fixed Elbow by
British Red, on Flickr
Now, I need to keep the pipe straight and tightly aligned to the top edge of the bed, To keep it there, I added a number of push in saddle cips to each side of the bed
F Sadlle Brackets by
British Red, on Flickr
G Saddle Bracket Fixed by
British Red, on Flickr
Then I cut a piece of MDPE the length of the side of the bed
H Cut MDPE by
British Red, on Flickr
This was pushed into the elbows and the saddle clamps
I MDPE in place by
British Red, on Flickr
Then I did the same for the other our sides. Its a bit cumbersome working with 75 yard coild of this stuff so give yourself room
J Remainder of the bed by
British Red, on Flickr
I ended up with four lengths clipped tightly to the top edges of the bed
K MDPE Complete by
British Red, on Flickr
Next I got a 10m x 3m length of net. This net is for insects (fine mesh). It prevents butterflies laying eggs on the brassicas. If I put this on the strawberries bees couldn't pollinate them, so a wider mesh is needed to let bees in but keep birds out
L Scaffold Net and fixings by
British Red, on Flickr
The net is overlong for the 7.2m beds. This is because it has to "hang down" to cover the ends and because I want to have separate fixed net panels at the narrow ends of the bed
M Scaffold Net Over hoops by
British Red, on Flickr
I cut a piece of each end to cover the narrow ends of the bed. One end was tucked inside the wooden board.
N One end tucked down by
British Red, on Flickr
The bottom of the net was cable tied (through the mesh) to the blue MDPE pipe. A "skirt" was left to hang inside the wooden board to prevent any insects crawling under the blue pipe. The net was then cable tied to the black conduit and cut to size with scissors
O One end piece Secured by
British Red, on Flickr
This was repeated at the other end of the bed
P Second End Secured by
British Red, on Flickr
The large net piece was then spread to cover the gap between the end pieces
Q Main net in place by
British Red, on Flickr
One end was clipped to the hoops with a few more saddle cips
R One end clipped in place by
British Red, on Flickr
The net was stretched along the frame and clipped with more saddle clips at the other end hoop
S Stretch tight by
British Red, on Flickr
This gave a nice tight finish. Note that there is a "skirt" again hangining outside the boards
T Tight Net by
British Red, on Flickr
The net was cable tied to the "ridge pole" along its length
U Ridge line cable tied by
British Red, on Flickr
The skirt was tucked in along each long side and the net cable tied to the blue pipe
V Bottom of net tucked and cable tied to MDPE by
British Red, on Flickr
Thats it - the net is complete
W Insect Net complete by
British Red, on Flickr
Just to test it, I unclipped one long side by simply unsnapping the blue HDPE and flipping it over the ridgeline
X - one side opened for planting by
British Red, on Flickr
That seems to give plenty of room for weeding, planting etc. - and it met its criteria - less than a minute to open and close
Red