Why and how to use birch tar in the garden and vegetable garden
Most gardeners prefer to grow environmentally friendly products, but it is not always possible to cope with diseases and pests without pesticides. The use of birch tar in the garden and garden allows you to improve plantings and do without pesticides.
Birch tar composition and mechanism of action
Tar is a liquid wood product. Contains resins and a number of complex hydrocarbons:
- xylene;
- phenol;
- toluene;
- betulin;
- guaiacol;
- tereben;
- betuloside;
- goulterin;
- tannins;
- essential oils and alkaloids.
The best is the product obtained from pure birch bark juice. It perfectly heals cuts, wounds, treats scabies, lichen, psoriasis, eczema, relieves itching during diathesis. The smell of the substance is peculiar and very stable.
To distinguish birch tar from low-quality counterparts obtained from the distillation of coal, shale, peat or oil, you need to pour a small amount of the substance into clean water. A high-quality product will remain on the surface, the rest will sink to the bottom of the container.
Tar is not at all a harmless substance, despite its long history. It always contains a share of carcinogens. Therefore, it is necessary to use the drug thoughtfully and carefully, well understanding the mode of action on plants.
Application in the garden and garden of birch tar
The product of the distillation of birch bark on the site is rarely used, although it has strong antimicrobial properties. Let's figure out how to competently solve gardening problems using this specific tool.
How to make a garden remedy
The drug is not used in its pure form. It is too thick, pungent and can burn plants.
Means for spraying plantings and irrigation with a watering can is prepared as follows:
- in 1 liter of water, dilute 2 tbsp. l. grated laundry or liquid soap;
- add 1 tbsp. l. tar, stir thoroughly;
- the mixture is poured into a bucket of water and mixed again.
Do not store the solution as it may stratify. It is advisable to wear rubber gloves before use so that the smell does not remain on your hands.
The product can clog the holes of the spray gun, so for spraying it is better to take an inexpensive model that is easy to disassemble and clean.
Garden protection
Due to its specific smell, tar is widely used in the garden and vegetable garden.
He helps to cope with the invasion:
- ants;
- moth;
- spider mite;
- sawfly;
- gooseberry and currant moth;
- raspberry-strawberry and cherry weevil.
On pollinated crops, an odorous solution is used before bud break or after flowering, so as not to scare away bees and bumblebees.
Birch tar should be used very carefully in gardening. There are known cases of burns after contact with the bark of young trees.
In order not to definitely harm the young garden, the trapping belts are coated with a caustic liquid. They are put on the trunks as a kind of "skirts" and processed only "inside out".Or wrap it with a film and apply the product on top, without touching the bark.
Pest control in the garden
Most insects have a well-developed sense of smell. With the help of smells, they navigate in nature - they find females, food and safe places for rest and breeding. This feature is used by resourceful gardeners to scare off pests, therefore, tar is often used in gardening to protect against pests. Agree - good food cannot smell so awful, you need to run away from this place immediately! This is what numerous lovers do to eat the most delicious tops and roots.
For protecting potatoes from the Colorado potato beetle with an aqueous solution of tar and soap, the tops are abundantly sprayed, as well as the ground between the rows. During the summer, 2-3 treatments are carried out, alternating with insecticides.
Tar does not kill garden pests, but only scares them away. Therefore, it effectively acts for prevention and in the initial stage of damage.
To combat the onion fly, gardeners use several techniques:
- soaking the seedlings in a solution (1 tsp. of the product per 1 liter of water);
- irrigation of plantings from a watering can with an interval of 2-3 weeks;
- placement of rags abundantly moistened with tar in the aisles.
The latter method allows you to preserve the soil microbiota and protect not only onions, but also other vegetables.
With the help of rags soaked in undiluted birch tar, cabbage, mustard leaves and radishes are kept from cabbage fly and cruciferous flea raids.
Distracting crops are planted nearby to increase efficiency. The flea eats them first of all, without touching the unusually smelling cabbage. Arugula, cruciferous siderates (oil radish, rapeseed, mustard) are suitable as distracting plantings. Also, an overgrown radish is left for the flea, which is no longer suitable for food.
A good effect is given by mulching the beds with rotted sawdust spilled with a solution of the product. To protect against caterpillars of the white butterfly, rags soaked in tar are hung on the garden bed at a height of 40-50 cm.
The carrot fly doesn't like strong smells either. To keep the root crops intact, the solution is watered under the root, after having moistened the soil well. Up to 4 treatments are carried out over the summer - in June and August.
How to scare away rodents from the winter garden
To protect trees and shrubs from mice and hares, proceed as follows:
- in late autumn, the lower part is whitewashed with an ordinary whitewash;
- after drying, the trunks are coated with a mixture of whitewash with mullein and tar;
- sawdust sprayed with undiluted means is scattered into the trunks.
The mixture is prepared as follows: for 1 kg of lime, take 1 liter of mullein or 2-3 kg of manure and 1 tbsp. l. tar. Whitewashing in two stages is used in order not to damage the bark of trees with the preparation.
How to treat pets with tar
Birch tar is widely used in veterinary medicine. Among the indications:
- disorders of the gastrointestinal tract, tympanic scar, infectious diseases of the respiratory system and helminthic invasions;
- treatment of skin diseases - scabies, dermatomycosis, eczema, frostbite, cracked hooves and injuries to the limbs;
- decontamination of premises for livestock.
For the treatment of skin diseases, the drug is used in the form of a 10-30% solution. Apply 2 times a day for a course of 1 to 2 weeks, with fungal infections - up to 1 month. In cases of scabies, the ointment is applied warm and rubbed thoroughly into the skin.
As a disinfectant and against fermentation in the stomach, tar is given in the form of a 10% aqueous emulsion of cattle and horses from 10 to 25 g, pigs, goats and sheep - 2-5 g, dogs up to 1 g, depending on the size and weight. Cats are hypersensitive to tar preparations, so they are rarely prescribed.
The use of birch tar in the garden and vegetable garden gives good results if you use the product in a timely manner, observing the recommended dosages. Then it will not cause damage and will help rid the site of a large number of pests.