banding fruit trees

[vicki lorraine]

can anyone tell me if they know of an alternative way of grease banding trees. One of my big apples has a peculiar shaped trunk and does not lend itself to the tie on bands. i have read in an old gardening book that petroleum jelly works- has anyone ever tried this?
These are my big bramley apple and a pear of which im not sure to its variety.

[nick the grief]

You can cet the grease equivalent and sort of paint it on. The problem wth petroleum jelly is it won't stay on as well & it would cost a fortune.

[pigletwillie]

I thought you bought big tubs of petroleum Jelly Nick, something to do with chaffing wasn't it

[nick the grief]

No thats LJ er sorry GrandMoM

[Alice]

I'm sorry, Vicki, I don't know anything about this or what the purpose is. I do know my daughter has apple trees in her garden, nobody does anything, and there are beautiful apples by the cwt. My late father in law had a pear tree which produced pears by the ton and nobody did anything to that tree. Sorry not to help.

[vicki lorraine]

this is the first year that the trees have been cared for in 16 years. I wonder if now the rubbish and leaves have been cleared away from underneath that the problem of grubs might reduce. I understand that clearing underneath the trees is important to reduce the risk of infection. Looking forward to seeing the apples this year.
However, i had a tree surgeon prune the big trees and as the Bramley is a tip bearing tree i am concerned that i may not get any fruit this year.

[andrewo]

Dear Vicki, clear beneath the trees, preferably scrape back any to growth to leave a metre clearance around the base - normally circular - and then give it good feed with potash. You can get a grease glue, same stuff as on the bands, from Organic Gardening catalogue, this is normally applied in Autumn to stop moth grubs and various other nasty pests, you also apply it at the end of spring to stop ants over the summer from making off with any of your fruit! Any pruning should be done to generate new growth and spurs, they will show up this season, you may be lucky and get some fruit but more than likely it will be in two years BUT pruning old trees is necessary or you get growth over production. Old trees are not to be cut down, but regenerated by pruning.

[vicki lorraine]

thanks andrewo,
people thought i was mad paying out loads of money for two old trees to be pruned properly. But the trees were what made the plot what it is. We have also planted some new trees in the Autumn. Plum, and a couple of eating apples. Do you know wether i need to band all fruit trees or is it just apples?
We had tons and tons of apples on the Bramley this year (before pruning) but they were all wriddled with what i think was codling moth grubs when i cut through the middle. Hope the trees will appreciate the TLC and reward me in the future.
Do you know about Pear trees? The big pear tree was loaded with fruit but the fruits were pitted with black bits. The tree was struggling with a holly tree which had wound itself throughout the tree before we rescued it. Do you think that now it has more air and light it may be better this year?

[andrewo]

I think you need to band all the trees if you can, can you get a pic of the pear? I hope it's not stony pit disease but more than likely not, if the pear's taste okay then keep cropping, and just give them a good potash feed, clear around the base. See how it goes this season now it has no competition. Apples riddled aren't a wash out, cut out the worst, shred them, juice them and make juice or even better, cider.

[vicki lorraine]

Thanks andrewo. Cant get a pic of pear as composted most of them. Did taste them though and they were really nice. i'll wait and see what this year brings. Didn't band the pear - is it too late or can i do it now?

[andrewo]

Band it now, that way you will protect against ants, as it has been mild I would band now as some pests have had a good winter.

[jools]

I tried to band my cherry tree for a couple of years but the ants seemed to get under the band. Then they hopped onto foliage and got up the tree. Didn't mind the ants but the blackfly the ants cultivate were dreadful. Then tried to put a jar of jam under the tree hoping the ants would prefer that (read it in a gardening book). No luck. Finally resorted to ant powder. Problem solved!

[DonnaG]

Don't use petroleum jelly as tree grease

can anyone tell me if they know of an alternative way of grease banding trees. One of my big apples has a peculiar shaped trunk and does not lend itself to the tie on bands. i have read in an old gardening book that petroleum jelly works- has anyone ever tried this?
These are my big bramley apple and a pear of which im not sure to its variety.[ATTACH]938[/ATTACH]

Don't use petroleum jelly! Hi I've been using it for about 3 to 4 years and this year the wind snapped two, right on the petroleum band! There was a dark brown cancer type mark all the way through the trunk. I have 38 mixed fruit trees aged between 15 years and 3 years and I have the feeling I've seriously damaged them all. I've stopped using it immediately and would advise others to stop too. :-(