Protecting Cherry Crops from Birds

Why Birds Make a Beeline for Your Cherries

There's nothing quite like the moment a cherry tree starts to blush. By mid-June, sweet cherries such as 'Stella' or 'Sunburst' turn from pale green to that deep, glossy red, and the tree suddenly becomes the most popular spot in the garden. Unfortunately, you aren't the only one watching. Blackbirds, starlings, blue tits and the occasional opportunistic wood pigeon are all enthusiasts, and a single bird can strip a branch in an afternoon.

Birds don't do this out of spite. Cherries are a rich, sugary, high-energy food, and by the time they ripen, many garden birds are feeding hungry fledglings. That means the pressure is intense and relentless, usually starting the moment the first fruit changes colour and continuing until the last cherry is gone. Understanding that timing is the key to protecting your crop — and to doing it in a way that doesn't harm the very wildlife you've been encouraging all spring.

Net at the First Blush, Not at Full Red

This is the single most important rule. If you wait until the cherries are fully ripe to think about netting, you've already lost half your crop. Birds begin testing fruit as soon as it softens and colours — long before it's sweet enough for you to pick.

Walk out and check your tree daily from early June onwards. The moment you can see a definite colour change across even a scattering of fruit, it's time to act. Netting put up at that stage protects the whole ripening window, which for most garden varieties runs three to four weeks.

• Check fruit colour every morning — ripening accelerates in warm, sunny spells.
• Net early varieties such as 'Early Rivers' by the first week of June in southern counties, later in the north.
• Protect fan-trained and wall-trained cherries at the same stage; birds find these just as easily as free-standing trees.

Choosing the Right Netting

Not all netting is created equal, and the wrong type does more harm than good. Fine monofilament netting — the thin, almost invisible sort sold cheaply for ponds — tangles around birds' legs and tongues and should be avoided entirely for fruit protection.

Look for a knitted, UV-stabilised garden net with a mesh no larger than 20mm, and ideally 10–15mm if you have small birds such as blue tits or sparrows visiting. Larger mesh lets birds push their heads through to reach the fruit, and then panics them when they can't easily reverse.

• Choose dark green or black netting — it's less visually intrusive and easier to spot if a bird does get caught.
• Buy netting wide enough to cover the whole canopy with slack to spare, rather than stretching it tight across the top.
• Fruit cages or timber-framed enclosures cost more but last many seasons and are far kinder to wildlife.
• Old scaffolding netting can work in a pinch, but check the mesh size first.

Fitting and Securing the Net Safely

How you drape the net matters as much as which net you buy. The aim is a smooth, taut-ish cover with no loose folds, no gaps at the base, and absolutely no pockets where a bird can become trapped.

Start at the top and work downwards. Draw the net over the canopy so it clears the fruit rather than pressing against it — cherries bruised by netting rot quickly. Bring the edges down towards the trunk and gather them in, then secure with twine, clips or bungee cord around the trunk, well below the lowest branches.

Crucially, don't just peg the net to the ground around the trunk. Ground-level netting is where most casualties happen: birds drop down looking for fallen fruit and get caught in the slack. Instead, gather and tie the net up around the trunk so the base sits clear of the soil, or build a simple frame of canes and net the whole structure as a box.

• Inspect the net twice a day — morning and evening — for trapped birds or hedgehogs.
• Release any bird immediately by cutting the net if necessary; don't pull at tangled legs.
• Weight down loose edges with soft ties, never thin wire that can cut skin.
• Check after windy weather, when gaps and folds appear quickly.

Other Deterrents Worth Using Alongside Netting

Netting is the most reliable method, but a few complementary measures reduce pressure on the areas you can't cover.

• Reflective tape and old CDs hung among the branches can unsettle birds for a week or two, though they soon habituate.
• Scare-eye balloons work briefly, particularly on larger trees where netting is impractical.
• Planting a decoy crop — a cheap, early-fruiting cherry or a mulberry nearby — can distract birds from your best tree.
• Encourage natural predators by leaving a wild corner and putting up a sparrowhawk perch; the mere presence of a raptor keeps flocks nervous.
• Pick promptly. Ripe fruit left hanging is an open invitation, net or no net.

After Harvest: Net Down, Wildlife Back In

Once the last cherry is picked — usually by mid to late July — take the netting down, shake it clean and store it dry in a shed or garage. Leaving netting up year-round is a hazard for birds, hedgehogs and bats, and it also traps leaves and debris against the branches.

This is also the moment to give something back. Your garden birds have been nesting and feeding young all season, so a light top-up of fruit or a shallow dish of clean water keeps them coming back to deal with the caterpillars and aphids on your tree next spring. Netting your cherries for a few weeks and feeding the wildlife for the rest of the year is a fair trade — and it means you get the fruit, while the birds get everything else.