Cultural control (Winter moth)

Spatial isolation

• Winter moth is a denizen of woodland trees, especially oak.
• The pest is much less of a problem in orchards which are isolated from such woodland and larger hedgerows.

Grease banding of trunks

• A band of a recommended grease may be pasted round the lower trunk of each tree in September to October to prevent females ascending the tree in winter.
• This method is effective, but labour intensive, and is not usually done in large-scale commercial orchards.
• The band has to be renewed annually so that a sticky surface to the band is maintained.
• To reduce labour costs, it might be appropriate to treat the trees round the periphery of the orchard only, or areas close to woodland where the risk of infestation is high.
• Grease banding is harmful to some predatory insects, such as earwigs, which climb the tree from the soil in spring.
• Also, it can be phytotoxic to young trees.