You can't do without garden putties (vars) in the garden. They are also needed when grafting, and when trees are damaged by rodents, and if the bark is peeled off during processing, or large wounds were inflicted during pruning. Of course, garden pitch can be bought at the store, or you can cook it yourself, as our readers do.
Var garden - the key to longevity
As soon as I retired, my wife and I left our daughter's city apartment and moved to the country house, where we live almost all year round. My wife is happy to tinker in the beds, and my pride is the garden. The main concern is the preservation of fruit trees, many of which were planted by my grandfather.
Every year in autumn, before the frosts, I choose a time when there are no rains for several days, and I begin to work on tree trunks. With a special metal brush or scraper, I clean all the wounds and cover with var, which I cook myself at home according to my own recipe.
200 g of wax, 250 g of grease and 50 g of pine resin. Separately, I heat all the components until completely dissolved, then mix and pour into a glass jar.
If the composition turns out to be too viscous, I warm it up in a water bath and add vegetable oil (leftovers from a bottle with sediment are good). And if suddenly the putty turns out to be too liquid, I thicken it with sifted ash.
I put the finished var on the wound and rub it on the surface. The cracks usually heal fairly quickly and the tree recovers.
When it is necessary to process small cuts on trees or treat shrubs, I do not use var, but brilliant green or potassium permanganate.
I especially like brilliant green: it is sold in pharmacies in the form of a pencil - very convenient and, most importantly, effective. So my grandparents do not get sick.
By the way
There are many garden vars, but when preparing them, precautions must be taken to prevent the mixture from igniting, especially when alcohol is included in the var.
We treat wounds with rosin
Most recently, I bought the magazine “My Beautiful Dacha” at a kiosk and read it from cover to cover. I want to thank everyone for so many interesting and useful tips! I also decided to write a letter about how I prepare garden putty for my garden - I have a large one and I have to constantly monitor the condition of the trees, which, you know, take so much time and effort to grow.
Usually, I use rosin as the basis for preparing a garden pitch, it makes the composition sticky, and the wax, which fixes, prevents the solution from spreading. And already I add other substances to them - from what is currently at hand.
As a rule, I use fat so that the composition is not too thick. I prefer the following proportions: 200 g of rosin, 400 g of beeswax and 200 g of lamb fat.
In separate containers, I melt wax and rosin over a fire, and then mix them. Then I add fat and pour it into cold water in a thin stream. I take out the frozen var from the water and roll a ball out of it. After that, you can use it for any trees. If I do not use the prepared putty immediately, then I put it in a jar with a well-closing lid, otherwise it will harden very quickly.
For those who for some reason cannot purchase rosin, I can advise resin instead - the result will not be much different.
Advice
Experts advise adding one crushed tablet of heteroauxin (a substance that stimulates plant growth) per 1 kg of mass to it before hardening home-made garden pitch, which speeds up the healing process of tree wounds after pruning branches and smearing cuts with pitch.
And when mutton fat disappeared from our stores, I quite calmly replaced it with unsalted lard.
In this case, it is better to take the proportions as follows: 200 g of rosin, 100 g of beeswax and 50 g of lard.
First, I melt the lard, add wax and rosin. After 20 minutes of boiling, I cool this mixture a little, knead it with my hands and wrap it in oiled paper so that it does not dry out. In this form, it can be stored for more than one month. And my recipes have been tested for years.
Garden pitch is necessary for any gardener, but it is not always at hand. There are many recipes that make it easy to cook such a necessary thing yourself.
Why do we need a garden pitch and what components are included in its composition
Garden var, or putty, is an oil-resin composition used to treat wounds on tree trunks. The use of var protects the damaged areas of the cortex from infection.
Despite the abundance of ready-made options for garden pitch, some gardeners prefer to prepare putty on their own. As a rule, the main components of almost any garden pitch are rosin, turpentine, resin, and fat. Some gardeners believe that clay is suitable instead of var.
Clay instead of pitch - video
Recipes for making garden var at home
There are a great many recipes for garden putty, many of them are time-tested, as they have been known since the 19th century.
Recipe #1
One of the simplest formulations includes lard, rosin and natural wax, taken in a 1:4:1 ratio. Cooking sequence:
- Grind the rosin.
- Melt the fat and pour in the rosin and wax. Boil 20 minutes.
- Cool the var, knead with your hands and wrap in a sheet of oiled paper.
If you follow simple rules, you can quickly get garden putty
Recipe number 2
Wax is required (can be replaced with paraffin), any animal fat, rosin in a ratio of 1: 1: 1, to which linseed oil (one fourth) and a little zinc oxide are added.
The main components of the var (recipe No. 2) - photo gallery
The basis of the var is melted lard. 
Beeswax gives the composition antibacterial properties 
Rosin is added so that the var hardens better 
Flaxseed oil promotes rapid healing of wounds 
Zinc oxide has a drying, adsorbing, astringent and antiseptic effect.
Cooking order:
- Fat and wax are mixed and melted in a water bath, gradually adding rosin and stirring.
- Pour in linseed oil.
- Add 15–25% of the total volume of zinc oxide. An increase in the amount of zinc oxide reduces the ductility of the pitch.
- When cooling, the mixture is intensively stirred and 10% alcohol is added (optional). This will ensure the cold resistance of the pitch.
Cooking garden pitch No. 2 - video
Recipe number 3
- 1 kg of resin
- 200 g beeswax
- 50 g linseed oil,
- 100 g of charcoal.
Cooking order:
- Melt the wax and resin.
- Grind and sift coal.
- While stirring, add linseed oil and charcoal to the base.
- Bring the mixture to a boil, remove from heat and cool.
- Put the prepared mixture in a jar and close.
Before use, the putty needs to be slightly warmed up to soften.
1 - melt the wax; 2 - add resin; 3 - grind and sift coal, add to the base; 4 - add linseed oil; 5 - boil the mixture and cool
Recipe number 4
This recipe is very simple and is well suited for the treatment of large wounds. The composition of the mixture includes only 2 components - ash and nigrol in a ratio of 3:7. Nigrol should be heated and ash should be added while stirring until the mixture reaches the consistency of thick sour cream.
Ashes are mixed into the heated nigrol
Recipe number 5
This simple composition is called "cold pitch". It includes tree resin (410 g) and linseed oil (2 tablespoons). To prepare the pitch, the resin is melted and, without ceasing to stir, pour in the oil. A characteristic feature of the composition is that it always remains semi-liquid and can be used in any weather.
Recipe number 6
This ancient mixture is known as "waterproof ointment" and is the prototype of the modern var.
Required Ingredients:
- 205 g yellow wax
- 205 g shoe pitch,
- 100 g turpentine (resin)
- 50 g salt.
Cooking order:
- Place all ingredients in a pot and heat over low heat until liquid.
- Collect and remove dirt that has floated up from above.
- Cool the composition and with wet palms roll up sausages of medium diameter.
- Wrap the finished product in oiled paper and store.
The advantages of this ointment are that it does not get wet in the rain, perfectly tolerates winter cold (does not crack), and is easily removed during spring warming.
From my own experience, I can say that very quickly and simply garden putty can be prepared from equal parts of resin and liquid mullein. The resin is pre-melted, then the components are thoroughly mixed. The binder can be dog or cat hair, crushed dry leaves or grass. Such a mixture is prepared in 15 minutes and perfectly replaces the purchased var.
A self-made var, subject to all the rules, is not inferior in quality to purchased formulations. Using readily available components, you can guarantee that your trees are protected from diseases.
We cook garden var with our own hands
As I have repeatedly pointed out, for trees and plants, like the Rescuer ointment for the gardener. And it is absolutely inexpensive. So is the game worth the candle, making a garden pitch with your own hands?
Manufacturers of garden putty or garden resin, as it is called in some regions, try to average its characteristics in order to cover various climatic zones with their products as much as possible. As a result of the peculiarities of the climate, instead of reliable protection of the tree, it stupidly cracks or flows down, exposing the wounded areas.
By choosing the most suitable one from the recipes below for making a garden pitch with your own hands and choosing the consistency, you can easily learn how to make your own garden putty, ideal for your region.
Popular garden putty recipes to repeat with your own hands.
Recipe 1. Universal.
To prepare such a garden pitch, we need 4 parts of beeswax, 1 part of rosin, 1 part of linseed oil and 2 tbsp. spoons of ground charcoal. Ground charcoal is an excellent absorbent, necessary to remove harmful substances from the cut.
About the healing properties of beeswax is known even to any inveterate inhabitant of megacities. We don't necessarily need impeccably clean fresh beeswax, smelted from old honeycombs will do. Rosin is not so common in everyday life and is popular, perhaps, only with radio amateurs. Although its origin is also natural - it is the resin of coniferous trees. Flaxseed oil can be purchased at pharmacies.
We melt the wax and pour the rosin, continuing to heat the composition over the fire. We select the level of fire so that the solution does not boil, but only melts. Then add linseed oil. Constantly stir the composition until a homogeneous solution is obtained. Remove the mixture from the heat and gradually add 2 tbsp. tablespoons of ground charcoal, mixing it thoroughly. At first, the solution will be a little liquid. Do not worry, as it cools, the garden var prepared with your own hands will acquire the consistency we are familiar with. Allow to cool slightly, and can be applied to tree cuts.
Recipe 2. Rustic garden variety.
According to this recipe, garden resin has been prepared in haste since ancient times in the villages. To do this, liquid cowshed and fatty resin are mixed in equal proportions. The hair of domestic cats or dogs is added as a connecting element, since they shed all year round.
Recipe 3. Forsyth ointment is an old Russian recipe.
To prepare such a garden putty, thoroughly mix 2 liters of liquid cowshed, 1 liter of dry lime (you can grind old plaster), 1 liter of wood resin and 250 ml of river sand. Forsyth ointment must be applied to sections immediately after preparation; during storage, it quickly loses its properties.
Recipe 4. Zhukovsky's heat-liquid garden var.
For cooking, take in equal proportions rosin, yellow wax and beef or lamb fat. The listed components are previously separately melted. For wax, a larger container is taken in advance, all the ingredients are poured into it one by one, constantly mixing the composition. The resulting garden putty is slightly cooled and poured into a container of cold water. From the temperature difference, a plastic mass is formed, which is given a form convenient for storage and use. Zhukovsky's heat-liquid var is stored in oiled paper. It hardens in the cold, so it must be warmed up before use.
Recipe 5. Raevsky's cold-resistant garden variety.
The advantage of this recipe is in the unique healing properties and ease of use. Like all cold-resistant vars, it does not need to be heated before use.
Ingredients: ½ kg of wood resin, 60 ml of 90% alcohol and 2 tbsp. tablespoons of linseed oil. Wood resin is melted over low heat. It is removed from the fire when it reaches an almost liquid state. At the same time, alcohol is heated in a water bath. Then, with constant stirring, alcohol and linseed oil are added to the cooling resin.
Raevsky's cold-resistant garden var is stored in a tin container with a tight lid. When exposed to air, it quickly hardens. In order to qualitatively preserve such a putty, I advise you to quickly turn the container with Raevsky's var upside down. It will penetrate into the cracks and harden in them, hermetically preserving the container. In this way, I extend the shelf life of all household paints.
Recipe 6. Reshetnikov's cold-resistant var.
Ideal for contrasting climates. Resistant to natural precipitation, does not crack, retaining elasticity at high and low temperatures.
It consists of: 4 kilograms of fir resin, 400 grams of yellow wax, ½ liter of wine alcohol.
Resin and wax are melted over low heat, constantly stirring during the dissolution process. When the composition becomes liquid, remove from heat, starting to heat wine alcohol in a water bath. Warm wine alcohol is added to the mass that begins to thicken, constantly stirring until a homogeneous consistency is obtained.
Reshetnikov's garden putty is stored similarly to Raevsky's pitch.
Advice. I recommend adding heteroauxin to a homemade garden pitch. Based on 1 tablet per 1 kg of finished putty. It does not dissolve in water, so the crushed powder must first be dissolved in a small amount of warm alcohol. Or add it at the stage of heating the alcohol in a water bath, if such a component is in the recipe.
You can replace heteroauxin with Kornevin, which dissolves perfectly in any liquid medium.
These funds are designed to stimulate the growth processes of plants and trees, which contributes to the rapid healing of wounds and cuts.
And what do-it-yourself garden variety do you use in your region?
You can get acquainted with the technology of how to cook garden pitch with your own hands by watching the video:
Do-it-yourself garden var. Proven Recipes. updated: March 1, 2016 by: Elena
In addition, all work should be completed before the start of the sap flow process, in which case the wounds will heal faster.
In order for the garden tree to suffer as little as possible after pruning, need to heal the wounds. Putty is not required only for conifers, which emit a large amount of resin.
In young fruit trees, wounds that are larger than a 10-kopeck coin are treated, and in adult trees, wounds that are larger than a 2-ruble coin are to be treated. All work on painting and puttying tree trunks is carried out in dry sunny weather.
Why cover up trees?
Firstly, the life expectancy of any tree is positively affected not only by proper care, but also by timely treatment of wounds.
An open wound, as a rule, oozes for a long time, because of this the tree becomes noticeably weaker. And if small wounds, the diameter of which does not exceed 2-2.5 cm, heal relatively quickly on their own, then large wounds require treatment and close attention of the gardener.
The fact is that with slow, but natural healing, a lot of pathogenic bacterial fungi settle on the wounds of trees. They cause rotting of wood, and can also lead to the formation of hollows. And even without processing, the cut can dry out with cracks.
Secondly, it is necessary to cover up the trees not only after pruning or grafting, but also after the breakage of branches and twigs. Due to the biologically active substances that are part of putties or pastes, the regeneration process is faster.
Putty will protect the damaged part of the tree from drying out, as well as from getting into the wound of insects, bacteria and fungal spores.
It will provide the necessary sealing of the sections, thereby preventing the penetration of infection through damaged tissues.
Thirdly, putty is used after damage to trees by hares or rodents that love to feast on shoots and tree bark.
Some types of putty not only disinfect, but also help trees cope with the effects of sunburn received in the summer, and also help prevent frostbite in the winter.
At the same time, specialists and experienced gardeners do not have a common opinion on when to cover up trees: some recommend treating the wound immediately, while others prefer to wait until the cut dries a little.
The first option is preferable, since the optimal indicators for the absence of fungal infections (including latent ones) are found in those trees whose wounds were treated immediately after the cut or saw cut.
In addition, there are different opinions about the best way to cover up trees. Let's take a look at this issue as well.
What is the best way to cover trees?
The number of different putties is increasing every year. We list those that are most often in demand among gardeners:
As for the whitewash, they are not able to protect the trees from various fungi and viruses, moreover, they are easily washed off the trees with the very first downpour.
Please note that the same material may behave differently in different climates. You can try several types of remedies in order to determine the best one. For example, you can apply garden pitch on one cut, and RanNet paste on the other and see which wound heals faster and more efficiently.
Look at the affected area after a few years: necrosis or cancerous wounds may form at the site of poor-quality putty.
If there are no special tools at hand, then in case of emergency, electrical tape, liquid nails, facade putty and cement mortar can be used as putty.
Using ingenuity, you can also use a varnishing antiseptic, thanks to a prolonged action, it will retain its antiseptic abilities longer than a regular garden pitch.
Clay is suitable from natural materials, in addition, sphagnum moss can be applied to the damaged area.
Do-it-yourself garden pitch for a tree
Some putties can be made by hand at home - they will cost you less and their components will be more natural.
- In the old days, clay mash or just clay was used to putty wounds. To make a talker, you will need 200 grams of clay, 100 grams of cow dung, 100 grams of lime, you can also add straw or wool to add viscosity. The resulting mixture is diluted with water to such an extent that it resembles very thick sour cream. This putty retains a moderate viscosity and promotes rapid healing of cuts, cuts and wounds.
- Since ancient times, gardeners have also valued slaked lime. The solution is prepared as viscous and saturated as possible: for 10 liters of water, at least 2-3 kg of slaked lime, 0.5 kg of copper sulfate, 100 g of casein are needed.
- Forsyth ointment is also easy to prepare yourself: take 16 parts of cow dung, 8 parts of chalk and the same amount of wood ash, add 1 part of river sand, then mix thoroughly until a doughy mixture is obtained. The ointment is prepared immediately before application to the damaged area. It is superimposed with a layer of 2-3 mm, sprinkled with ash on top.
- Some gardeners cover the wound with soil and bandage it with burlap so that the earth is not washed away by rain and does not crumble after drying.
- There are several recipes for making garden pitch with your own hands. As a rule, a putty prepared from equal parts of wax, rosin and grease gives a good result. First, on a light fire, you need to crush and melt the rosin, then add the wax, and lastly, the grease. Mix everything thoroughly to get a homogeneous mass.
- There is a simpler recipe: melt 6 parts of paraffin and add 3 parts of finely crushed rosin. Bring the mixture to a boil and add 2 parts vegetable oil. Leave to cook on fire for another 10 minutes.
- Another recipe for garden pitch will require 8 parts of spruce or pine resin and 3 parts of sunflower or any other vegetable oil. Ingredients must be mixed while warm.
- You can melt 1 part of lard on fire, add 4 parts of rosin and 1 part of wax. After the ingredients have dissolved, cook over low heat for another 20 minutes. To speed up the wound healing process, you can add a crushed heteroauxin tablet to the resulting mixture.
How to apply putty to damaged wood
If the cut is small, then it can be covered with an ordinary paint brush, but if the wound is large, then it is treated with a spatula or roller.
Experienced gardeners do not recommend spraying putty with a spray gun, because this method is not the most economical, besides, it will not be able to process such hard-to-reach places as cracks.
Wounds must be cleaned before they can be treated. If you are treating an old, already dried wound, then you need to clean its surface with a garden knife.
Scrape off the layer of dead cells, which can no longer be restored, otherwise it will prevent the penetration of new putty to living tissues.
Some gardeners, after cleaning, additionally disinfect the cut site with a 5% solution of ferrous sulfate or a pink solution of potassium permanganate.
But this procedure is not necessary if the composition of your chosen putty includes any disinfectant component (antiseptic).
Putty is applied in one thin layer. The key role is played not by the thickness of the layer, but by the uniformity of the coating of the damaged surface.
Wherein healthy wood should not be smeared, as this will prevent the bark from closing the wound.
Summing up, we note:
- putty promotes healing of wounds of trees. It disinfects and protects the damaged part of the tree from drying out and getting insects, bacteria and fungal spores into the wound;
- some types of putty not only seal, but also help trees cope with the effects of sunburn and frostbite;
- garden pitch, Robin Green biobalm, RanNet paste and other solutions are used for putty; - it is better to give preference to those means, which contain as few oil products and other “chemistry” as possible;
- some putties can be made at home - they will cost less and their components will be more natural;
- a small cut or cut can be covered with an ordinary paint brush, and if the wound is large, then it is treated with a spatula or roller;
- the damaged area is cleaned, only then it is covered, while the putty is applied in a uniform thin layer.
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Garden var is used by gardeners to treat wounds resulting from cutting branches, mechanical damage to bark and wood, from thermal damage and sunburn. The most common garden variety is petrolatum, which is manufactured industrially. It has good adhesion to dry wood tissues and is valuable for its ability to actively heal tissues.
Nigrol putty, recipe
Garden var can be prepared at home. So, the composition of nigrol putty includes:
- 1 kg nigrol,
- 1 kg of rosin and
- 1 kg of paraffin.
All parts are heated separately, then rosin and paraffin are poured into hot nigrol. The mixture is stirred. When used, it is reheated.
In hot nigrol, you can mix sifted wood ash to the density of sour cream. Before covering the wounds, it is heated and mixed. It is good for treating large wounds.
Garden var, recipe
Another recipe: you need to melt 1 kg of crushed rosin, mix with 0.23 liters of natural drying oil and pour all this into 5 kg of melted paraffin. The resulting mixture is poured into a jar and stored in a warm place until consumed.
Garden pitch on wood alcohol, recipe
In cold weather, you can use a var prepared with wood alcohol. To do this, take 1 part of melted lard, pour 16 parts of ground rosin into it. When a homogeneous liquid is obtained, the dishes are removed from the fire and, stirring, pour in 8 parts of alcohol. Garden pitch of this type is kept in sealed packaging.
Garden Var on beeswax
Garden pitch prepared according to the following recipe is of good quality: 4 parts of beeswax are melted in one dish, 20 parts of rosin or resin are melted in another. All mix and add 1 part of linseed oil. The mixture is removed from heat and 2 parts of ground charcoal are added.
Forsyth putty, recipe
Forsyth putty is used in the treatment of large tears in the main skeletal branches, damage to boles and skeletal branches by elks, hares, mice, and sunburn. It consists of: 16 parts of fresh cow dung, 8 parts of slaked lime or chalk, 8 parts of sifted wood ash, 1 part of river sand. All this is diluted with soapy water, thoroughly mixed with rubber-gloved hands and added for better adhesion of finely chopped wool.
This putty does not last long. Apply it to the wounds with a layer of 1 cm and wrap it with burlap or strips of cloth.
Garden var on fat
And the last recipe for preparing garden pitch: melt 1 part of lard, add 2 parts of wax, and after dissolving put 4 parts of crushed rosin, boil this whole mixture for 30 minutes over low heat. Then the resulting mass is poured into cold water, the hands are greased and the var is kneaded. Store it in oiled paper.
The processes of scarring of wounds can be accelerated if, before solidifying any garden pitch, one pre-crushed tablet of alpha-naphthylacetic acid - heteroauxin is added to 1 kg of it.
B.Popov