We use tanglefoot out here in California quite a bit to keep ants out of fruit trees. I use landscaping cloth wrapped around the tree trunk, about 4 to 5" wide and wrapped around 2 or 3 times, then tied in a knot. Then paint on the tanglefoot. That way, the trunk can breath, but the tanglefoot can't heat up and burn the cambium layer during our sunny weather.

Patty S.

If you want to try something simple and cheap to stop ants from crawling up your trees, masking tape can help. Wrapping a 1" wide ring of the tape around the smooth area of the trunk with the sticky side facing outward will do. In a week or 2 or 3, the stickiness may decrease, so just replace it with a fresh ring.

Yes, it's amazing how many get trapped using masking tape, I found this out accidentally when labeling the grafts with masking tape.