Is the color coming from flowers, leaves or bark?

The only way you can legally take a cutting is by asking permission of the property owner.

As far as I know, people paint the trunks white to enhance the appearance -- to give the trees a more park-like appearance. The practice was more prevalent when I was a child, and that's been a long time ago!

I thought it was to protect if from sunburn.

The main reason why tree trunks (and utility poles, etc) are painted white is to make them more visible so traffic doesn't crash into them on unlit streets at night. Maybe in some places it has caught on subsequently as an aesthetic feature (but personally, I reckon it looks awful!).

On the shrub/tree, maybe knock on the door and ask? (or post a note with a reply-paid envelope, if knocking is too un-nerving!).

Resin

You see that white paint on palm trees often times where palm trees are grown along a boulevard.

Aethetic_pruner is correct! Many tree trunks are painted white for protection from sunburn.

I'm not sure the benefit justifies the aesthetics.

Naah . . . utility poles and stone bollards don't get sunburn, and they get painted too. And sunburn wouldn't stop just because they stop painting above eye level. Definitely a road safety measure.

Resin

Resin must be right; even if he's not he's gonna holler loud enough you'll surrender.

Where I come from (just east of north Siberia), painting a tree trunk is not uncommon, but only small trees, only in the fall as winter comes upon us, and is no longer done once a tree starts to develop the cork of a thicker bark.

I also know a number of people who swear by spreading ashes upon the snow.

Of course, where I come from, we paint rocks too, but never such drab colors as just plain white.

Of course, what is done in a certain area may only have value in that area. Not to say that other areas may not have other, equally valid reasons for doing a similar thing.

the trees leafs are that reddish pink color,also the tree that i was talking about is diffrent from the red one.and its in the yard so i dont think traffic would be affected.

We used to have next-door neighbors who were DP's (displaced persons) originally from Lithuania. The trunks of mature maples were painted white. Fence posts and pickets, gates, stone planters, garage, pumphouse, pigeonhouse, mailbox, and just about everything else that didn't move was painted white. They did it just for looks. Everything was neat and tidy and raked clean.
Sam

Resin is often right, but if he wants to win this one, he'll have to argue with a lot more than me. He'll also have to take on a number of text on the subject of arboriculture, and he'll have to tell many of the people that have painted tree trunks that they didn't do it for the reason they thought they did it for. This used to be fairly common practice.

I'm sure that some tree some where has been painted for some type of safety reason, but I would submit that they were definitely the exception.

BTW, the reason that only the lower trunks are painted is because the upper portion of the tree is protected by the foliage during summer when sunburn is a potential problem. Trunk/stem sunburn almost always occurs on the lower trunk where the foliage has been trimmed away.

staticx, as you can see, we cant agree what the white paint is for either.

If it's too much trouble to pick up a book on arboriculture, just google it! I typed in "white paint tree trunk" and came up with over a million hits. My gosh, this isn't some giant mystery, people!

One can take a drive out in rural areas and find lots and lots of trees with white painted trunks not near roads. I don't think the farmers were worried about traffic out in their fields. The cows usually don't have problems seeing the trees even without paint.

Anyway, below is a typical article.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tree Trunk Wraps and Paints

If the tree is right by a road it was probably painted so you can see it better and or because they read, were told, or saw others do it for some reason or for sunscald protection.
If the tree is painted white and it it's far away from any roads it was probably just because they read, were told, or saw others do it for some reason or for sunscald protection.

I've seen this done in the past and I think it does not look good.

OK, before someone points this out, not all the million plus entries were about this subject. Many were about artistic paintings of trees, but there are tons of entries about this subject too.

Another point brought up in many of the articles, was that painting the lower trunks of trees can reduce some types of borer infestation. The borers often target trees whose bark has been damaged by sun exposure.

o.k. so i guess there is many reasons for the white paint,but do you huys know the i.d. of the red leafed tree.

Not without a photo! There's dozens, if not hundreds, of possibilities.

Resin

staticx, it could be many things. There are many, many plants that have cultivars with purple leaves. There are also many plants with bright burgundy fall color that you describe. I dont know if you mean summer foliage or fall foliage... we cant know the id of the tree from your description. Pictures would be needed.

I have seen people mix lime and water and paint it on tree trunks, it has the appearance of white paint. Some people swear that the lime repels insects.

I had always heard as a child (when I had asked about it) thay they were painted with whitewash to prevent borer damage.

Mercifully, the practice has all but died out in most places. It looks terrible, IMHO.

From my own experience, it's still very commonly done in e.g. Bulgaria, Mexico, Morocco, Turkey, and no doubt other countries. But to repeat yet again - primarily along streets, and with all the utility poles, etc., painted in exactly the same pattern. Utility poles do not suffer from sunburn (and they also don't tun up on google searches for "white paint tree trunk"!!).

Resin

Also, regarding the sunburn issue: Painting the trunks with most paints would prevent the bark from aspirating, which it needs to do in order to function.

Maybe they do it for different reasons in some countries. Here in the U.S., I don't recall ever seeing a utility pole painted white. We use reflectors here. They work much better and are much less work to apply.

I've seen a few dozen locations with painted tree trunks (mostly rural areas), but don't think even a single one was done for safety. They do look ugly, and I've also considered some disadvantages to tree health. As pointed out above, thankfully, the practice is becoming a thing of the past.

"I have seen people mix lime and water and paint it on tree trunks, it has the appearance of white paint. Some people swear that the lime repels insects."

It's still a common practice over here, especially in orchards. This mixture is called "laid de chaux" (literally, "lime milk") and is supposed to kill or repel insects finding shelter under the bark in winter.

Don't know if it's effective, painting tree wounds is still a common practice here as well and it's very difficult to convince many people it is not. You know, the weight of traditions...

Olivier.

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.gerbeaud.com/jardin/fiches/fp_lait_de_chaux_blanc_arboricole.php3

From the discussion, painting tree trunks is done for different reasons in different places.

To add to the fray, another reason to paint tree trunks is to protect them from winter damage. In colder climates, the sun shining on the bark in winter can raise the temperature of the bark considerably, thaw it out, then a cloud comes over and the bark snaps back to 30 below and you get freeze damage to the bark. Painting the bark white helps reduce the solar gain and the freeze/thaw cycles. The upper parts of the tree aren't painted because the branches are much smaller(and harder to paint), often don't have the same angle to the winter sun, and you don't really want to paint the dormant buds.

Then again, sometimes you will paint a tree trunk because you have extra paint when you finish painting something else and figure it will drive the neighbors nuts wondering what you are up to!

I`m unsure what has been applied to these european beech trees or for what purpose. Some of the trees have areas of bark missing from their roots but these areas remain "unpainted".

I went back to look at the trees today (the pic dates from 2003) and to my untrained eye they are all standing and appear healthy.
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