Pest control is a big part of growing vegetables and to achieve the best results pests need to be kept off and away from your vegetables at all times. The best way to keep pests away from your crops is to create a physical barrier between the pest and the crop.

Because of the range and varity of pests that can attack crops there are a number of barriers and ways to keep them off your vegetables. These range from copper tape to egg shells to raised beds and cloches. But the most effective way of controlling the widest range of pests is to use garden netting.

The important point about using garden netting is that the netting must be kept up off the crops and should not touch the foliage. For this you will need to construct a netting support frame. The easiest way to do this is by using bamboo canes.

What You Will Need

• 5ft – 6ft bamboo canes
• Garden netting
• Figo bamboo connectors
• Ground pegs or tent pegs
• A saw

The size of your frame will depend on the size of your beds. The frame can sit inside the bed and does not need to be as large as the bed. Instead just drape the netting over the frame and secure it in the ground along the edge of the bed, in a tent like fashion.

To Make the Frame

1. Cut the bamboo canes into 2ft & 3ft lengths
2. The 2ft lengths will form the legs of the support
3. The 3ft to 4ft lengths will form the cross sections
4. You can cut the bamboo canes using a saw
5. Use the figo arms to join the bamboo canes and create the corners of the frame
6. These connector arms can be flexed and turned to suit any angle
7. You can continue to join a series of frames together to suit the size of your vegetable garden
8. Once complete, drape the garden netting over your frame
9. Pin it down using the ground pegs or tent pegs

Choice of Netting

• Standard Garden Netting: 20mm spaces is ideal for protecting against birds and butterflies
• Garden Fine Mesh Netting: 1.3mm spaces is ideal for controlling carrot fly, leather jackets, cut worms, caterpillars and birds

Size of Netting

• 2x10m Garden Netting: You would need to join two nets together creating a 4x10m netting. This would cover a bed of approx. 2.8x8.8m
• 5x2.6m Fine Mesh Netting: This would cover a bed approx. 1.4x3.8m