All equipment to care for our trees

Equipment for pruning your trees

Cutting tools

Cutting tools come in many forms: saws, pruning shears, loppers, pole pruners, pruning knives… and choice will depend on job to be done.

Pruning shears are perfect for cutting a few small-diameter shoots, while loppers (also called pruners) will handle larger sections. For even greater diameters, you will need a good pruning saw. Finally, pole saws, telescopic-handled loppers and pole pruners are ideal for cutting branches several metres high safely.

Cutting a branch using loppers

→ Find our wide range of cutting and tree pruning tools in our online nursery

Wound-sealing mastic essential for major wounds

Pruning operations, but also sometimes violent winds, leave on branches of trees and bushes extensive wounds, sometimes deep and irregular. These wounds become entry points for bacteria, fungi or pathogenous insects. Consequently, important to apply wound-sealing mastic, creating physical protective barrier, while healing completes. This wound-sealing mastic thus prevents numerous diseases that can enter via tree wounds.

→ Find all our healing products in our online nursery.

Beware of accidents!

Remember to equip accordingly to avoid injury. Accidents happen quickly and worth thinking carefully before starting. Essential protective equipment remains: a good pair of gloves, even protective forearm sleeves if needed, and a good pair of safety goggles.

Important to equip well to avoid injuries

→ Find our wide range of cut-resistant gloves in our online nursery.

In addition, particularly if using petrol-powered or battery-powered equipment, remember to add a galea fitted with ear protectors. And, for chainsaw or hedge-trimmer work, cut-resistant trousers and sleeves, both specifically designed to stop chains. Better to be “over” equipped than under!

Everything you need to care for your trees

Preventive treatments

• Tree whitewash : tree whitewash is a limewash-based coating of natural origin that helps protect trees from pathogenous fungi and parasitic insects. It also protects young trunks from sunscald and from effects of spring frost;
• Antifungals : antifungals or fungicidal agents act against pathogenous fungi. Preventive fungicidal treatment, particularly high in copper, will help control major diseases of fruit and ornamental trees such as canker, bacteriosis, scab or leaf curl. The Bordeaux mixture is a multi-purpose preventive mineral fungicidal agent that effectively combats various diseases such as late blight, peach leaf curl, apple scab… Bicarbonate of soda also acts as an antifungal against powdery mildew and scab;
• Tree glue and tree collars : applying glue around tree trunk, or at base of main branches, creates a physical (and sticky!) barrier that traps or prevents ascent of creeping insects such as earwigs, caterpillars and ants into aerial parts of the plant. Tree collars are easy to fit and reusable; they are themselves coated with glue and provide same effect as applied glue. Glue-coated colour traps attract certain insects by their colour, which are then trapped and stuck on the board;
• Pheromone traps : pheromone traps are designed to mimic scent signals emitted by females of certain insects during reproductive phase, aiming to attract males which are then trapped and can no longer reproduce;
• Organic control and beneficial insects : ladybird larvae, nematodes, predatory bugs… Principle of organic control using beneficial insects is simple. Introduce into arena (your garden!) predators of pest insects or mites.

Glue-coated collar and trunk coated with tree whitewash

→ Find all our pheromone traps, colour traps or glue traps

→ Find our wide range of organic control products in our online nursery.

Curative treatments

• Anti-chlorosis : this type of treatment is used either preventively or curatively to combat iron chlorosis. Iron chlorosis appears as yellowing of leaves in plants sensitive to calcareous soils. An anti-chlorosis product contains chelated iron for perfect assimilation of this element by the plant;
• Insecticidal treatments : certain natural insecticidal products can reduce impact of pests on trees;
• Anti-deficiency : as name suggests, these products act preventively or curatively against possible deficiencies: iron deficiency, calcium deficiency, boron deficiency, magnesium deficiency, … These anti-deficiency products are sprayed directly onto the plant.

→ Find our wide range of remedial products for conventional pest and disease control in our online nursery.

For healthy trees

Right plant in right place

A plant, whatever it is, must be planted in soil, in the climate and in the exposure that suit it best to live a full and healthy life. If your tree is under stress — water-related, temperature or relating to root — it will not be able to fight diseases or parasitic pests effectively that may attack it. This will almost certainly lead to the tree’s death despite all your care. Always think carefully about your plants’ needs when choosing them!

Don’t prune too much!

Each pruning wound is a potential entry point for bacterial and fungal contaminants, and even an invasion by wood-boring insects. Resist urge to reach for the saw too often and only cut sections under 10 cm in diameter to avoid prolonged healing. Allow enough space for your trees to grow without constraint, or favour more compact varieties or those with very slow growth.

Don’t over-treat!

It is often unnecessary to treat your trees for the smallest minor ailment. Let nature take its course; your plants will be better for it. Trees in the wild generally do very well without us. So avoid over-treating in the garden and step back!

Beware of weather extremes

Nowadays we experience scorching summers, rather mild winters and late spring spells of intense frost… All these weather extremes can stress, damage or even kill your trees. Some protections are effective, notably winter fleeces and covers that protect trees by a few degrees, often enough to prevent disaster.

→ Find all our winter covers for trees and bushes