Gardeners urged to ‘winter wash’ all trees and plants in January

By Alex Evans, Deputy Audience Editor

Gardeners are being urged to 'winter wash' this January (Image: Getty)

Gardeners are being told they need to wash down all their key fruit trees, plants and crops this month to stop the scourge of pests returning in the spring and summer.

Our gardens might look like they’re in hibernation right now - especially if they’ve spent much of January locked under a blanket of snow and ice.

But anyone who grows fruit trees, or has crops like strawberries, raspberries, onions or cauliflower and broccoli which they expect to grow in spring should take action now - or risk losing their crops later when the weather warms up.

Gardeners World explains: “Winter washing fruit trees involves spraying them with a mixture of plant oils diluted with water – you'll find the concentrated solution in garden centres.

“Spraying in this way can help control pests and diseases by knocking out overwintering eggs, removing debris and reducing fungal spores. 

“It's especially useful for controlling aphids and woolly aphids on fruit trees like apples, cherries and plums.”

The only risk to this is potentially removing beneficial insects too. 

It added: “However you may also remove overwintering aphid predators such as queen wasps, as well as other hibernating wildlife.”

Ready made winter washes are available from most garden centres. Simply put this into a pressure sprayer and spray over trees, using a soft brush to help spread it over the affected area. 

Anyone who has apple trees, pear trees, plums, cherries, blackberries, blackcurrants or grapevines in particular is being urged to complete a winter wash - but it can also be beneficial on strawberries if you’ve battled an aphid infestation in the past.

Aphids in particular can be a death knell for fruiting plants, sucking out key nutrients and leaving the plant with less energy to create fruit.