Of all the wonders I saw last week in Tuscany, perhaps the strangest was a courtyard full of blue-painted citrus trees. It is truly the mark of a beautiful landscape that something that might look tacky in the city seemed just-right…
After all, the Italian countryside is full of foreign beauty: ancient stone walls, wild red poppies, Roman swimming pools- so why not blue lemon trees? I didn't judge and simply filed it under "Ah, Italy!", but upon returning home, I wanted to learn more. According to many gardening websites (most of them based in Arizona), the trunks of young citrus trees are very prone to sunburn and must be protected. According to Arizona Oddities, "Citrus trees have relatively thin bark. Left to their own, they grow more like a shrub than a tree, with shoots growing up at the base and covering the trunk.Without that shading, they need the protection of paint." The article goes on to say that latex paint should be used (oil-based paint will poison the tree) and that burlap wrappings can also get the job done. Tropical Mango recommends using tree paint (who knew?) or a 50/50 mix of latex paint and water. The University of Arizona College of Agriculture and Life Sciences suggests that whitewash can also be used, and reminds us that protection is no longer necessary once the tree's canopy is large enough to shade itself.
In my painted-tree research, every example I've seen looks rather random and half-hearted. I appreciate that the owners of Villa Ugo (where I took this photo) turned a protective necessity into a design element and made it their own. I could see myself with a gold lemon tree someday...
(Image: Tess Wilson)
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Provided this is helping, not harming the young trees, I think it's great. In the right environment it could really be lovely. And If you whitewash the trees rather than paint them, it would eventually wear off giving you the option of a more natural look once the trees have matured.
@VERY ARTSMART - it's paint on dead cells to help the organism for crying out loud!
Form follows function in a very groovy way - I love this idea!
We have an art project in the area to bring awareness of global deforestation. Very striking and will not injure the trees.
http://500px.com/photo/7170444
Trees use bark throughout their entire life. It protects them from excessive heat, cold, fire, insect and mechanical damage. University of Virginia extension even discourages wrapping. At the very least we should appreciate this living thing for what it is instead of feeling the need to make it brighter for our short attention spans. Please, paint an abandoned house if you want to beautify your area.
I love when something necessary turns out so lovely! Gold would be fabulous. :)
@Emmi... I'm wondering if you actually read the post? It says that painting *exists* to help the trees, and that the side effect of "beautifying your area" is just a plus.
This reminds me of an art installation in Lincoln Park in Chicago. They painted a bunch of trees that were already dead from disease and some that were deemed invasive and needed to be removed. It's pretty striking.
@ineptbutintrepid I was mostly "responding to the responses" about how this is done in other ways, like art or environmental projects, which it also is. I haven't seen scientific studies on this, but some botanists I've spoken to strongly disagree that this is the way to deal with excessive sunlight.
I live in costa rica and was amazed at all of the white washed trees here. They paint them here to protect from insects. Not only does it protect but it does look beautiful!
since "paint that sh*t gold" is one of my favorite sayings, i would love to have one and paint the trunk. then when my friends come and give me a hard time about painting yet another thing gold. i have a perfectly good excuse for it.
I hate this as much as I hate people painting rocks. Our planet has evolved just fine over billions of years without us painting over nature.
I live in Tuscany. They do this to the trees to protect them from insect infestations after major pruning. It is not paint, it is a treatment for the tree that happens to be blue.
Ugh to all the haters, who are gonna hate, I guess.
The modern citrus plant did not develop in billions of years, it's DNA has been shaped by man to get what we want, great fruit. The plant needs a shaded trunk and we want a "standard" shaped plant, those two desires are mutually exclusive so we must "paint" the trunk to keep the plant happy. A sunburned trunk on a citrus or avocado will damage the tree and affect its life span and diminish production. The growers of 5 million California lemon trees could be painting their trunks in vain, but farmers really hate wasting their money.
"Ah, haters." Why hate on a tried and true approach to agriculture when you could just congratulate a b*tch on a gold tree. And just because something is done in places where English is not the official language doesn't mean it is evil and wrong. Listen to SLOBOUND: it's not mean, it's just good looking science.
I noted that the blue is likely a coloring agent in a post pruning treatment.
Thanks for that Mandy!
However, if fibers can also protect citrus trees, I see yarn bombing in my neighborhood soon.
Hopefully, the yarn won't be acrylic and loose enough to allow for a few years growth.