" >
Saplings and very young trees are susceptible to damage in ways older, bigger trees are not vulnerable to. An old-time method of dealing with this is shielding trees behind a layer of white paint.
Insect damage to trees, sunscald, cracked, damaged bark on the young saplings and trees can all be minimized with white paint.
Orchards do this, and so do tree farms. The main purpose isn’t insects; it’s preventing the cracking and splitting that can happen to tender new bark.
Once that bark is split, then disease, insects and fungus can get in.
What it does for insects is show where the infestations are more easily. Insects show up better against a white surface than bark. Some borers are also inhibited from making their home in the white trees. I could also imagine birds and other predators could more easily see insects walking over white bark and find them easier meals.
Painting with white is controversial, however, especially if the wrong paint is used, because it can harm a tree.
So what to use? Water-based latex paint, diluted at one gallon of latex mixed with 4-5 quarts of water. However, more latex is better against borers and thirds of the two listed ingredients plus joint compound is reported to be good against sunscald.
