I spent about 5 hours today painting trunks and have a couple more hours to go tomorrow. I got to wondering…how many years is it advised to paint trunks for sunscald protection? I’m in central/west central MN, zone 3b/4a depending on what zone map I use.
How about painting trunks for borer protection? How many years( generally speaking) is it necessary to protect trunks from borers?
I’m curious for a response also. considering painting mine.
what kinf of paint did you use?
Flat white interior latex and joint compound about a 60/40 mix
I generally paint every other year and as I add new trees. Some folks paint every year.
I think it depends on how likely a sunny day followed by a very cold night is in your locale.
I thought I had read something stating that once a tree is a few years old and the bark changes to that of a mature tree, that tree would be less likely to be impacted by borers or sunscald. I haven’t been able to find that info again though.
Beware if you do any severe pruning to the canopy. That can make tree vulnerable to bark damage. I learned that the hard way after cutting some big branches for bark grafting. And the damaged bark was 30 years old.