Grease bands around tree and stake. Photo courtesy Royal Horticultural Society
Some of you may remember The Grease Band from the 1970s, they played with Joe Cocker and featured in a memorable performance at Woodstock. But in this article I’m talking about soil rather than rock!
If you would like to reduce the harmful effect of caterpillars in the early spring, munching away on the newly appearing blossoms and young fruitlets, without applying chemicals and insecticides, then grease bands are an old-fashioned but highly effective method. It is all based on the principle that certain female species of various insects are wingless and begin to crawl their way up the tree, via the trunk or low-hanging, ground-touching branches. The stake next to the tree may be used as a route to climb into the tree. The pests I am referring to are the larvae of the Winter Moth, the Mottled Umber Moth and the Vapourer Moth. These larvae, once they have arrived at their destination, will begin to deposit their eggs around the fruit buds and in the crevices of the bark all over the tree. No damage occurs this time of the year. When the winter has passed and the temperatures begin to increase, then the eggs of the larvae, deposited this time of the year, will produce lots and lots of little caterpillars. These will begin their munching feast on all that freshly-appearing green foliage. Then, worse still, once blossom time is over, they will then start chomping away at the young fruitlets just as they are appearing.
It is now – early-mid October – that the larvae of those insects begin their journey from the soil into the trees. If applied correctly, the grease bands will trap them. Follow the instructions on the packet. Any good garden centre stocks them at this time of the year. Keep your grease bands in place to the end of April as in the spring other insects will also try to climb into the tree for the same purpose. Grease bands are therefore very valuable not only at this time of the year but also during warm days in the winter and the spring, repelling all sorts of creepy crawlers. Remember to attach them to the stake as well.
Some types of grease are applied directly to the tree trunk. Photo courtesy of veggies-only.blogspot.it
To tell the truth, I have only ever used grease bands of the type in which the sticky stuff is on sheets of plastic, so that the grease itself is not in contact with the trunk. There are types of grease sold in tubs that can be applied direct to the trunk of your fruit trees, as shown in the photo. Perhaps someone could tell me about their experience on this. In any case, another thing that should be done at this time is to cut the low ground-touching branches back to at least 18 inches above soil level
Now, if you have a nice little orchard with wire netting around it, keeping the chickens in, then most of these wingless insects will have been consumed by the chickens. There is no better way of biological control of various pests, than having lovely egg-laying chickens settled in your orchard. What’s more it is a wonderful way of not only daily collecting the chicken eggs, but also at the same time keeping an eye on your beautiful fruit trees.
If you’d like to order some trees, take a look at our main website. P.S., we don’t sell chickens!
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