I was at the nursery and I noticed, especially for the fruit trees,
that they had white paper sleeves around the trunks of the trees...

Does anyone know why they do that, and will that benefit other trees
as well?

On Apr 18, 2:44*am, Ablang wrote:
I was at the nursery and I noticed, especially for the fruit trees,
that they had white paper sleeves around the trunks of the trees...

Does anyone know why they do that, and will that benefit other trees
as well?

Will keep bunnies from nibbling the bark in the winter. Sleeves also
offer some protection from buck deer rubs.

In article
,
Frank wrote:

On Apr 18, 2:44*am, Ablang wrote:
I was at the nursery and I noticed, especially for the fruit trees,
that they had white paper sleeves around the trunks of the trees...

Does anyone know why they do that, and will that benefit other trees
as well?

Will keep bunnies from nibbling the bark in the winter. Sleeves also
offer some protection from buck deer rubs.

There is the issue of sun scald too.

http://www.ext.colostate.edu/Ptlk/2111.html

I remember some people painted their tree's with white wash (Lime) but
have not seen that in a long time. Mostly peach trees and apple.

Bill

--
Garden in shade zone 5 S Jersey USA

Not all who wander are lost.
- J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973)

This reminds me of a question I've wondered about for a few years now. Why
do people paint the trunks of palm trees white? Living very far from any
palm trees, there's no one local I can ask.

"Ablang" wrote in message
...
I was at the nursery and I noticed, especially for the fruit trees,
that they had white paper sleeves around the trunks of the trees...

Does anyone know why they do that, and will that benefit other trees
as well?

"Ablang" wrote:
I was at the nursery and I noticed, especially for the fruit trees,
that they had white paper sleeves around the trunks of the trees...

Does anyone know why they do that, and will that benefit other trees
as well?

The paper wrap is to help prevent wind burn and sun scald to young saplings
because their bark is so thin... does nothing to prevent rabbits from
nibbling because they actually enjoy eating that paper too. The paper wrap
should only be used in cold climates and needs to be removed as soon as the
ground begins to thaw, or insects will make their homes under the paper and
will also encourage mold growth by holding moisture. Wrap is totally
unnecesary once the mature bark begins to form. If you have a rabbit
nibbling problem use a sleeve of wire mesh (chicken wire works well) but
don't let it touch the tree. Some folks paint tree trunks white, for the
same reason some folks paint rocks they place along the roadway,
visibility/decorative... in parts of Florida and California I've seen palm
tree trunks on particular Blvds. painted, some in pastel blue and flamingo
pink, strictly for increasing visibility along roadways and obviously for
decorative purposes.

On 4/17/2009 11:44 PM, Ablang wrote:
I was at the nursery and I noticed, especially for the fruit trees,
that they had white paper sleeves around the trunks of the trees...

Does anyone know why they do that, and will that benefit other trees
as well?

Even mature citrus trees can suffer sunburn on their trunks. Sunset says:
"Citrus bank sunburns in hot-sun areas. Thunks should be wrapped (paper
trunk bands are available commercially). When heavy pruning exposes
trunks or limbs, protect bark with whitewash or latex paint diluted by
half with water."

Citrus does not require pruning to produce fruit. Pruning is required
only to remove dead or crossing branches. Thus, a good canopy of
foliage eliminates the need to protect the bark.

My citrus are actually semi-dwarf and not true dwarf. Even semi-dwarf
citrus will not develop the extensive canopy of foliage to protect the
bark. I solved this problem by growing my dwarf citrus in partial shade.
Citrus requires summer heat, which mine get, but not necessarily full
sun. I've heard that citrus is grown commercially in low desert areas
of California in the total shade from date palms (two crops from one
orchard).

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary

On Sat, 18 Apr 2009 07:41:26 -0500, "Andrew Ostrander"
wrote:

This reminds me of a question I've wondered about for a few years now. Why
do people paint the trunks of palm trees white? Living very far from any
palm trees, there's no one local I can ask.



There was a local that painted the trunks white. I thought it was to
prevent backing his vehicle into one at night. Painting trunks may be
a cultural thing. There is a lesbian couple who ran a MS farm and
painted a tree lavender every time they were harassed. Anyway,
painting a trunk, good or bad, is a crime against nature. Perhaps the
paint discourages palmetto bugs. When I planted my sugar maple tree
15 years ago I used a plastic spiral perforated wrap to prevent deer
damage, then removed the wrap after 4 years. Today, the 50-foot
maple provides afternoon shade to my garage, yet full sun in winter to
warm the garage.

On 4/18/2009 5:00 PM, Phisherman wrote [in part]:

Anyway,
painting a trunk, good or bad, is a crime against nature.

Ah, but many of the plants in my garden -- including trees -- do not
exist in nature. They either represent centuries of selective breeding
or else more recent hybridization.

If I allowed my garden to return to nature, most of the plants there
would die from the lack of artificial irrigation. 200-250 days without
rain followed by a short rainy season that brings 9-15 inches would be
too dry to grow peaches, oranges, lemons, roses, camellias, guavas,
begonias, azaleas, holly, etc. A few of my plants might survive: oak,
rosemary, cistus, baccharis.

I grow unnatural plants. Why not use unnatural methods?

--

David E. Ross
http://www.rossde.com/.

Don't ask "Why is there road rage?" Instead, ask
"Why NOT Road Rage?" or "Why Is There No Such
Thing as Fast Enough?"
http://www.rossde.com/roadrage.html

We paint saplings to young trees to prevent the bark from splitting in winter. if
left dark the sun heats the bark on one side, the dark side is freezing cold and the
rapid expansion of the heated bark causes a vertical split to occur.

actually, we wrap with screening as high as we can after painting to keep rabbit and
mice mouths off the bark and I spray insecticides thru the screening. white on an
old larger trunk lets birds pick the insects off easier too. we even slather
tanglefoot to trap insects crawling up the tree. Ingrid


On Sat, 18 Apr 2009 13:52:53 GMT, "brooklyn1" wrote:
The paper wrap is to help prevent wind burn and sun scald to young saplings
because their bark is so thin... does nothing to prevent rabbits from
nibbling because they actually enjoy eating that paper too. The paper wrap
should only be used in cold climates and needs to be removed as soon as the
ground begins to thaw, or insects will make their homes under the paper and
will also encourage mold growth by holding moisture. Wrap is totally
unnecesary once the mature bark begins to form. If you have a rabbit
nibbling problem use a sleeve of wire mesh (chicken wire works well) but
don't let it touch the tree.

Some folks paint tree trunks white, for the
same reason some folks paint rocks they place along the roadway,
visibility/decorative... in parts of Florida and California I've seen palm
tree trunks on particular Blvds. painted, some in pastel blue and flamingo
pink, strictly for increasing visibility along roadways and obviously for
decorative purposes.

In article ,
wrote:

we wrap with screening as high as we can after painting ...
and I spray insecticides thru the screening. white
on an
old larger trunk lets birds pick the insects off easier too.

You make it easier for birds to pick the insecticide tainted
insects off the screen? Isn't this where "Silent Spring" came in?

There are no passengers on Spaceship Earth. We are all crew. ~Marshall
McLuhan, 1964
--

- Billy
"For the first time in the history of the world, every human being
is now subjected to contact with dangerous chemicals, from the
moment of conception until death." - Rachel Carson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WI29wVQN8Go

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1072040.html