In the autumn gardeners, gardeners begin to whiten garden trees. At the same time there are few who delve into why this procedure is needed, which trees can be whitened and which ones cannot. Whitewashing trees for the winter has become a tradition. Under the dacha's brisk hand gets everything. Experienced gardeners know that the sun's rays reflected from the melting snow are especially dangerous for the bark of trees in spring. Most of all burns fruit trees receive for this reason. In winter, the same happens during thaws.
That is, that would not be applied - pruning, spraying from pests, fertilizing, the rod need special protection. It is desirable that the shtamb was clean and healthy, so that its bark would rejuvenate, for this it must be covered with a multifunctional protective layer in the fall. That is, the coating that we will apply would protect the stem from hares, mice, from spring sunburn and winter frost, from pests.
Before applying whitewash, any tree needs preliminary treatment.
Old bark from the trunks of fruit trees should be regularly cleaned. That is, it is desirable that the trunk to a smooth bark was clean.
It is convenient to do this with the help of an old garden hacksaw. 
Do not be afraid to damage the bark of the tree - run the jagged side of the hacksaw blade along the woody part of the tree trunk from top to bottom.
Whitewashing is the application of a thin layer of lime that protects the trunks, large skeletal branches from direct and reflected sunlight, as well as from pests that climb into the crown along the trunk.
But whitewashing is not recommended for young trees, since the lime layer inhibits the normal development of the trunks and their expansion. As a result, the effect is too thin trunks.
But this does not mean that the trunks of young trees do not need protection from the sun, frost, and pests. For young trees, a more effective way of protection is suitable - not lime whitening, but clay coating. Assess the advantages or disadvantages of whitewashing or smearing can only be compared.
To whitewash did not restrain the growth of young trunks, instead of it use a plastering clay. It does not have a depressant effect on seedlings. Applicable from the first winter. Especially in recent years, people are increasingly buying good varieties in nurseries - it's a shame to harm their normal development with ordinary whitewash.
Another advantage of clay over lime is the protection against winter frost cracks. Clay plaster fully replace whitewash with lime, protect from frost. Whitewashing from frostbite does not help.
A clay coating protects the garden from the flowering beetle, which leaves the soil before the bud breaks out at the end of March and the beginning of April and lays eggs in the buds that have not yet blossomed. And the clay-coated kidneys are not accessible to the pest of the tsvernoyed.
Clay coating is an excellent protection against adverse factors for young seedlings and columnar trees. All you need is a stepladder. It would be nice to protect the trees before frost, that is, apply a plaster until December. But it is useful to hold it also in February and early April - in the days of thaw.
Clay is suitable for plastering from the depth( subsoil), but if the soil is loamy, you can take the garden soil. For those who do not want to cook their own plaster, there are special clay-based pastes for sale. 
How is this done? It can be a wide brush, but you can just hand. Typing the clay into a fist, we carry out the coating from the bottom up, so as not to damage the kidneys. It is advisable to coat the trunk and branches 2-3 times, waiting for each layer to dry.
In spring, buds will easily open - a thin layer of clay is not a hindrance to this.
For protecting trunks, instead of whitewashing, you can use covering materials that wrap trunks, thick raspberry shoots. Cut white agrofibre into strips, for example, spunbond, lutrasil, wind in a spiral tree trunks, thick raspberry shoots. Agrofibre will protect trees from rodents( mice, rabbits), sunburns, and freezers.
