I remember when I was a kid, we put some sticky stuff and a tar paper
collar around the trees. Nothing could crawl up past it.

John!

yar wrote:
the reason i was interested in doing this was for the prevention of
crawley bugs. i was told that bugs have a harder time getting a
foothold where the trunk has been painted. that led me to the concern
of what type of paints would harm the trees. i have been told to avoid
oil based paints.

On Sat, 12 Feb 2005 02:16:41 +0000, Newt
blurted forth:

"
"Steve Wrote:
" Newt wrote:-
" yar Wrote:
" -
" i am thinking of painting my fruit trees, the problem being what
kind
" of paint to use and what not to use.........thanks in advance!
" -------------------------
" Remove NO SPAM to Reply!
" Add yar where NO SPAM was!-
"
"
"
" Hi Yar,
"
" I can solve your problem for you. Don't paint your trees. It's
" really
" unsightly.
"
" Newt-
"
"
" You are right, Newt, but some people paint the trunks with watered
" down
" latex paint (half water, half white latex paint) to prevent
"southwest
" injury". There are several other names for that, but it happens
when
" the
" temps are well below freezing but the afternoon sun pushes the bark
" temperatures above freezing. As soon as the sun goes behind a hill
or
" even a cloud, the bark suddenly refreezes, resulting in damage. The
" bark
" doesn't have to be solid white. Just enough white to lighten the
color
" considerably. Also, no paint is needed on the north or east sides.
" Once
" the trees get big, the bark gets thick enough that damage is
unlikely.
"
" I have fruit trees that have had this winter injury but I've never
" painted them. They are yard trees and I don't want them painted. If
I
" ever had an orchard way out back and nearly out of sight (my yard
" isn't
" nearly that big) I might use the paint.
"
"
" The original post didn't say why they wanted to paint the trees. If
" they
" are planning to do it just because they think it looks good, ... I
" disagree!
"
" Steve
"
"
"
"Hi Steve,
"
"You are so correct. I really should have asked why Yar wanted to
paint
"the trees. There is another reason to paint them as well. It's
called
"sunscald, but much of that can be prevented when initial planting is
"done by facing the lowest branches towards the south to shade the
"trunk.
"
"Thanks for pointing that out.
"Newt

-------------------------
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