Whitewashing of trees — when and how to whitewash garden and ornamental trees (110 photos)

Many experienced gardeners know that periodic whitewashing is required for the preservation and development of fruit or ornamental trees. It is important to choose the right time for the work and the coloring material used. And our article will help you answer the question of how to carry out these works with the greatest benefit for the garden.

Summary of the article:

The tradition of covering tree trunks with lime solutions arose quite a long time ago and remains popular at the present time. And there are several reasons for this:

Protection from direct sunlight, which often leads to very severe burns on the bark of plants. And if you cover the trunk with a protective layer, then you can prevent overheating and cracking.
Smoothing the effect of temperature changes. Protected wood will not overheat under the sun, icing and freezing of the wood surface will be excluded. Preventing frost damage will not allow harmful spores to develop in the bark.
Protection from pests. Lime and fungicides destroy insects and microorganisms, protect the bark from being eaten by animals.

Some inexperienced gardeners have heard the opinion that whitewashing garden trees can harm young seedlings. But this is not quite true.

If you take a high concentration of the solution, then harm to the young bark can be inflicted. It is more correct to soften the composition or purchase a special paint for plants and cover trees with them.

When is whitewashing done

Gardeners should carry out work related to the processing of trees on time. If you stick to the schedule – 2 times a year, you will be able to protect plants from the negative effects of external factors as much as possible.

Autumn works

During this period of the year, it is important to provide comprehensive protection of fruit trees such as apple, cherry, pear and plum. They are highly susceptible to the negative influence of temperature changes. This is also important because:

pests are dying — mites, aphids, leaf beetles, fruit beetles;
the concentration of harmful bacteria decreases;
trees are protected from the spring sun and unstable thaw.

At the same time, if you do the work early, the autumn rains will wash away the painting, and if you are late, the frosts will damage the trees. Therefore, whitewashing of trees in autumn is carried out in October-November, before the onset of active frosts.

Spring processing

Work can be carried out in March-April. The main thing is to choose a warm dry day. During this period of time, the trunks often begin to warm up to 11 degrees, which causes the activation of juice movement. A decrease in temperature at night in this case is fraught with tissue damage and the appearance of frost damage. Spring whitewash:

protects trees from early awakening, trunks from burns and night frosts;
helps to destroy pests.

It is important to calculate the dosage correctly and not to harm the vegetation. It is not necessary to delay the treatment, so as not to miss the activation of insects.

During the work, the peeling bark is removed from the stem, it is cleaned of larvae, lichen or moss. In the photo of the whitewashing of trees, you can see how to act correctly when applying solutions to the bark.

What materials to use

When carrying out protective measures in the garden, you need to prepare a flywheel paint brush based on an unnatural material. A flute brush is also suitable. However, it is advisable to use them when processing small gardens.

And if there are a lot of trees, then you will need a spray gun. It is also necessary to stock up on special solutions. They can be prepared in different ways, but they include three important components:

pigment for giving a white hue (chalk or lime, for example);
adhesive composition;
fungicidal substance.

Preparation of the solution at home

The easiest way to protect plants in the garden is to use lime for whitewashing or chalk mortar. At the same time, you can use several effective recipes:

Lime for whitewashing (slaked) or chalk in an amount of 3 kg is diluted in 10 liters of water. Additionally, it is necessary to add 0.5 kg of copper sulfate to the solution, as well as casein glue (about 100 g) or 2-3 tablespoons of flour paste. All the ingredients are mixed and infused for several hours.

The following components are mixed in 10 liters of water – lime (2 kg), clay (1 kg), a shovel of manure and copper sulfate (250 g). The solution can be used after 2-4 hours after cooking.

It is necessary to take 300 g of lime-fluff. Add vitriol (2 spoons) and a little glue to it – up to 200 g. The whole composition should be stirred in 2 liters of water. You should also add 200 g of clay and Carbophos in an amount of 25 g.

It is required to heat 2 liters of water. In it, dissolve lime (2 kg), vitriol (400 g) and glue (100 g). After that, mix everything and add 8 liters of water. Mix the solution thoroughly.

With all the simplicity of preparing such a composition at home, it is not too durable and is easily washed off trees. Therefore, the treatment should be carried out twice annually.

Acrylic and water-based paints

Good protection of tree trunks can be provided by covering them with acrylic paint. It has components that have antifungal and bactericidal effects. Water-based paint is durable.

A dense protective layer will be created on the surface of the tree, which will not be washed off and will withstand the action of sunlight steadily. But at the same time, the film will allow the tree to breathe freely.

The disadvantage is the inability to affect insect pests. Therefore, copper-containing substances are added to the composition.

The water-dispersion solution is characterized by the presence of latex and antiseptic in the composition. The breathable solution stays on the trunk for more than 2 years, protecting the plant from ultraviolet light. The treatment of wood with such paint should be carried out at a temperature of at least 3 degrees.

How to properly whitewash

In the spring, work is carried out with the beginning of warm days, but before the first leaves appear. But in autumn you should not wait for the first frosts. At the same time, it is important to prepare tree trunks for processing. Our instructions on how to whitewash trees will help you to perform all the manipulations correctly.

Preparatory work

At the first stage, you need to thoroughly clean the bark. It is necessary to wait for wet wet weather and carefully remove the destroyed or no longer viable bark from the trunk and skeletal branches. It is also necessary to remove the moss and lichens that have appeared.

Do not use tools that will damage the plant. Use your hands. A sliver or a sharp peg will help to treat cracks and inaccessible cavities. All the filmed material must be destroyed in the fire.

The bark must also be treated with a disinfectant. You can buy ready-made compositions, for example, "Hom" ilm "Abiga-peak". But many can easily dilute the solution themselves:

dilute 300 g of copper vitriol or 600 g of iron in 10 liters of water;
preheat 10 liters of liquid, dissolve a 50-gram piece of household soap there, as well as 3 kg of ash. Then the solution should be cooled.

The disinfectant composition can be applied with a brush or spray. The layer should be thin and not drain down. It is important that it begins to settle on the surface and soak into it.

Processing trees

If you use a spray gun, the material consumption will be slightly higher compared to the traditional method of applying the solution. To make the process go much faster, you can choose brushes in advance, the size of which would correspond to the thickness of the trunk and its branches.

It is necessary to apply the composition of whitewash for trees using a soft and wide enough brush. It should easily penetrate into the most inaccessible places. The solution covers the trunk to a height of 1.5-1.7 m, providing a protective coating and the lower skeletal branches.

The layer of applied whitewash should be about 2-3 mm. It should not be covered with an excessively thick cover, because it will crack quickly, and then it will crumble after complete drying.

It is recommended to shovel the soil near the trunk, and then cover it with a solution below ground level. After drying, the soil returns to its place.

Sometimes the trunk coating dries out, turning gray. In this case, you need to use a brush and apply the whitewash again until you get a white shade.

Timely processing of the trunk and the main skeletal branches will protect your garden from pests and the negative effects of natural factors. You are not required to implement highly complex measures. Any novice gardener can easily cope on their own.