Wife wants to go all fisherman and repair the net properly. She saw a video on YouTube with a man using a flat plate and some kind of flat pointy thing as a needle to repair
Yes, you can repair it using a netting needle. You need to know the size of the holes in the net so you can make the flat plate to work the thread round, and the netting needle which is a flat plate with a rounded point on one end and a hollow middle with a point in it. The video should show the shape. You need suitable thread; if you have a chandler near you, they may be able to help, otherwise try the internet. I have never repaired a net, only done a small bit of netting from scratch, but I don't think it is going to be very easy. You will need to join the thread on to the last sound bit and make new net in all the holes, working along to the sound part in each case in rows. Good luck to her; think I would buy a new net.
mending nets so as to have an "invisible"repair is hard work and takes ages.
i would go for a combo of stitching back together and patching as appropriate (tis what fisherfolk usually do).it ends up as a useful patchwork net but to keep birds off the fruit(or to catch fish) it does not need to be pretty it only needs to be un-holed.