I “oiled” my fruit trees and some of my roses last Saturday. By “oiled” I mean that I sprayed dormant oil all over the trunks and branches to kill overwintering insect eggs and things. I believe it kills some diseases, too, like fungal spores. The oil I used was Volck Oil Spray from Ortho. It’s mixed with water in a sprayer, according to instructions, and then applied. It’s important to apply this before the blossoms open on the fruit trees or it could damage the future fruit.

I’ve been doing this every spring since I planted these trees, and I think it’s helped quite a bit. I have a number of neighbors who have experienced damage to peach trees from peach tree borers. They’re a moth larva that bores into the base of the trunk, causing sap to ooze out and often causing the crippling or death of the tree. I haven’t had any problem with borers yet, except on an ornamental flowering cherry. I also spray the fruit tree trunks really well each time I’m applying pesticides to the fruit during the summer months. That actually may do more good than the dormant oil, but my neighbors have said they do the same.