Fruit trees in particular should be whitened, as the lime paint is also called. There are good reasons for this that serve to maintain the he alth of the trees.
Why should you paint trees with lime paint?
Trees are painted with lime paint to provide frost protection, prevent disease and pests, and act as natural fertilizer. Liming is particularly recommended for fruit trees in damp locations and in wet weather.
Three reasons for liming trees
White-painted tree trunks and branches can be seen in many gardens. However, gardeners do not always know what exactly this means. The white coat offers tangible he alth benefits for the tree treated with it, especially in damp locations and in wet weather.
1. Frost protection
The lime coating is an effective frost protection, which can be particularly important for fruit trees planted in exposed and very sunny locations. Especially in sunny but dry and cold winters, the tree bark can be seriously damaged by frost cracks. This is due to the intense solar radiation, which essentially puts the tree into vegetation mode in the middle of winter: As a result, the sap pressure increases, the moisture in the wood freezes - and the bark splits open. Fungi and other pathogens can now penetrate unhindered. The white paint prevents this because the color reflects sunlight and is therefore ineffective.
2. Prevention
In general, prevention against diseases and pests is another good reason for whitening trees. The paint makes the bark more resistant to fungi, it also compacts it and thus removes winter quarters from pests that hibernate in the wood.
3. Fertilization
Many trees feel most comfortable in a calcareous location. These species benefit from the lime coating for another reason: the lime paint, which is slowly washed off by rain, gradually seeps into the soil and is reabsorbed by the roots as a nutrient. Overly acidic soils can be brought back to a more suitable pH value with lime fertilization; the lime coating, in turn, helps to maintain the optimal pH value permanently. But be careful: not all plants tolerate lime, which means that not all trees can be painted.
How to paint your fruit tree
The best time for a lime coat is autumn between October and November. And this is how it works:
- For young trees with smooth bark, no preparatory work is usually necessary.
- For older trees, remove loose bark from the tree bark.
- This works very well with a wire brush (€4.00 on Amazon), or a blunt blade.
- Then apply the lime coat.
- Also remove lichen with the wire brush, but this is not absolutely necessary.
- Lichens are displaced by the paint.
Tip
Once the paint has been washed off by the rain, it can be renewed.
