I understand that I should be putting grease bands on my fruit trees..(I think I am a bit behind with this task) ::)
I noticed in my garden centre that there are grease bands or tins of fruit tree grease. Which one is better and if I use the tins of grease do i still have to apply a plastic band on top of it ?
Duke
I got some of these, my grand father always used a sort of bitumen stuff that never set . No idea what it was but I did notice that little insects crawl between the uneven surface of the bark and the grease bands which defeated the object. Thought that for the price they were not very effective at all
What I do now is get some wide parcel tape and wrap it round the tree trunks the wrong way so that the sticky bit is on the outside. It is easy enough to remove when either full of bugs or no longer sticky with scissors or what they call a hobby knife.
I seem to need them more in early summer when the ants take the greenfly up to suck the sweet stuff out.
I put ours on 2 weeks ago and you can't get the sticky off yer hands
we used the bitumen-ey stuff 3 years ago, never again, it got on my clothes while tying the roses up in the tree, never came off, I use vaseline smeared thickly around the tree, does the same job and it will wash out eventually :)
I have tried grease bands, but even on smooth bark many insects get underneath.
Also tried a modern product like a mastic, applied as two beads - totally useless after two days.
Have now gone back to old fashioned grease. Dont try and cut corners though: horticultural grease is vegetable based, normal grease is mineral, and will damage your plants.
I tie my bands on using strechy wire sleeving
ie http://www.wickes.co.uk/Earth-Sleeving/invt/710030 (11p per metre)
I tie the greese band top and bottom and then use mastic on the bottom edge to seal it against the tree.
I wondered if anyone knows if you should put these onto newly planted trees - have some 1yr maidens coming my way sometime soon...