Fruit tree winter wash, pruning and grease bands (apple care)

Fruit tree grease bands

A short winter routine protects spring fruit — prune for buds, winter-wash and add grease bands.

What to do now

• Winter wash: Spray trunks & branches with a winter wash (eg Vitax winter wash) while trees are fully dormant to reduce overwintering pests and eggs. GardenAdvice recommends a winter wash ahead of spring.
• Pruning: Winter pruning should remove unwanted long summer shoots and cut back to 2–3 buds where necessary to encourage fruiting spurs for the next year.
• Grease bands & traps: Fit grease (sticky) bands before insects begin to climb in spring and plan pheromone traps (eg for codling moth) in the growing season – both are recommended in GardenAdvice’s pest control notes.