Intensive cherry cultivation offers great potential for high-quality fruit, but it also means greater vulnerability to the elements. Simon, a Marlborough cherry grower, knew he needed an innovative solution to safeguard his premium cherries from birds, hailstorms, and damaging winds. He partnered with Hortivate to develop and install an integrated protection system tailored to his specific needs.

Simon's cherry crop is now shielded from birds, hail, and damaging winds. Zero bird presence within the structure during the first harvest demonstrates the netting's effectiveness. The low shading netting ensures optimal light exposure, contributing to excellent fruit development and quality.

"The major benefit of the Hortivate product offering is that it is a very versatile structure. For what we are doing, which is providing a trellis, bird cover and rain cover for cherries, the trellis was very versatile and provided an infrastructure all-in-one solution. Rather than having to have separate infrastructure for the trellis, bird netting and the rain cover – it's all-in-one." – Simon Bishell