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Grease band buying guide

Updated: 22 October 2026

You have a young apple and a plum in a British garden, the leaves are down, and the amazon.co.uk rolls in front of you all sit near four stars. A grease band buying guide is the order to use before that sort: what the band is meant to stop, whether the bark can take paper, then length, width and string. The [grease bands for fruit trees](/hub/garden-supplies/grease-band) comparison holds the seven-listing table. This page tells you what to measure, and it does not name a winner. A title that fights its own bullet is easier to drop once the trunk is measured. A qualifying purchase can earn us a commission at no extra cost to you.

You have a young apple and a plum in a British garden, the leaves are down, and the amazon.co.uk rolls in front of you all sit near four stars.

Our top picks

Provanto Provanto Boltac grease band, 5 m

Best overall

Provanto Provanto Boltac grease band, 5 m
8.2/10about £5.95
View offer
Defenders Defenders grease band, 1.75 m × 10 cm

Rank 2

Defenders Defenders grease band, 1.75 m × 10 cm
8.4/10about £6.94
View offer
SWISSINNO SWISSINNO grease band, 5 m × 5 cm

Rank 3

SWISSINNO SWISSINNO grease band, 5 m × 5 cm
7.5/10about £12.99
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.What you are buying the band to stop
  2. 2.Length, width and string
  3. 3.When the listing disagrees with itself
  4. 4.What to leave for another product

What you are buying the band to stop

A grease band is a sticky strip tied around the trunk, glue facing out, so insects that walk up the bark meet the glue. In the UK the usual target is winter moth on apple, plum, pear and cherry. The Royal Horticultural Society treats a ready band as a barrier for that climb, fitted in late October and kept clear of debris until about April, on a tree where the moth has already been a problem. Codling moth sits outside this purchase. Those females fly, so a strip on the trunk does not meet them.

Length, width and string

Measure the girth about 45 cm above the soil, and include any stake that touches the trunk. A young tree at 45 cm around needs that length plus an overlap. Defenders states about 1.75 m by 10 cm, with string, at a shelf price of £6.94 on 19 October 2026. The 5 m rolls are Provanto Boltac at £5.95, PIC at £7.99 and SWISSINNO at £12.99. Provanto is the most stated metres for the money here, though the width is not printed. SWISSINNO states 5 cm and includes no string. Overlap and height are on the how to fit a grease band page.
Provanto Provanto Boltac grease band, 5 m

Testsieger

Provanto Provanto Boltac grease band, 5 m
8.2/10about £5.95
View offer

When the listing disagrees with itself

Plan from the measurement, not from the rounder title. Defenders' title says 1.7 m and the bullet says 1.75 m. The pafnisoin listing at £13.99 says 10 m in the title and 5 m in the bullet, and it shares its review line with the 25 cm by 3 m pafnisoin at £6.99. A generic kraft roll at £6.60 carries a 50 m size name and 2.6 from three reviews. Do not budget as if that name were a measured 50 m length. The best grease band page names two picks.

What to leave for another product

Smooth young bark can take a ready band. On a fissured trunk, insects walk in the cracks under the paper, and extra metres do not close those cracks. The RHS points to brush-on barrier grease in the ridges. None of these seven listings is a grease tub. The grease band or fruit tree grease page is that choice. Provanto reviews in this set describe a bird and a woodpecker stuck, and a SWISSINNO review mentions a cat. Pesticide-free, and a green colour, do not mean vertebrates are spared. The RHS treats these barriers as indiscriminate.

Common questions

How long a roll do I need for two apple trees?
Measure both trunks about 45 cm up, and add a stake against the bark. Two young trees at 45 cm each are about 90 cm before overlap, so Defenders' 1.75 m can cover them if the overlap stays short. A thicker trunk plus a cane can use up a short roll on the first tree. A 5 m roll is the safer stated length for several slim trunks, though Provanto and PIC still do not state a width.
Is 5 cm wide enough, or should I look for 10 cm?
SWISSINNO is the 5 cm band here, at £12.99 for 5 m, with no string in the pack. Defenders states 10 cm, close to the ring often used for brush-on grease, on a much shorter roll. Five centimetres can work on smooth young bark if leaves do not bridge the glue, though the margin is smaller than with 10 cm. A blank width, as on Provanto and PIC, tells you less than either stated figure.
Does the pack include string?
Defenders states string with the 10 cm band. SWISSINNO does not, so you bring twine. The other listings do not make the fixing as clear. Gardeners' World describes tying with twine after the overlap is cut, if the pack has not supplied a tie. A roll without string is usable. It is a poorer specification if you want to order once and fit the same afternoon.
Can I trust a 10 m title?
Not when the bullet says 5 m. That is the pafnisoin listing at £13.99, and it shares reviews and imagery with the 25 cm by 3 m pafnisoin roll at £6.99. Budget the bullet, or skip the listing. The same caution applies to a 50 m size name on the generic kraft roll when the bullet does not give a length you can measure.
Is pesticide-free the same as certified organic?
No. Pesticide-free and suitable for organic gardening are listing phrases. They are not a Soil Association certificate, and none of these files includes one. The glue still catches whatever walks onto it. If you garden to an organic standard, the missing document is the certificate, not a longer roll.
Which figure is the price, the shelf price or a later offer?
Use the price on the day you buy. The 19 October 2026 set runs from Provanto at £5.95 to the conflicting pafnisoin listing at £13.99, with Defenders at £6.94 in the scrape. A same-day check already had Defenders at £6.66. A crossed-out was price is not what you pay.

Related pages

Grease bands for winter moth

Grease band

Best grease band: stated width against review count

How to put grease bands on fruit trees this autumn

Grease band or fruit tree grease when bark is ridged

Sources

Public UK sources for timing, bark and wildlife, plus the amazon.co.uk listings compared on this page. Shelf prices read 19 October 2026. Updated 22.10.2026.

  1. RHS, grease bands and tree barrier glues (retrieved 19.10.2026)
  2. RHS, winter moth caterpillars (retrieved 19.10.2026)
  3. BBC Gardeners' World, how to deal with winter moths (retrieved 19.10.2026)
  4. Garden World, fruit tree grease (retrieved 19.10.2026)
  5. Glue Traps (Offences) Act 2022 (retrieved 19.10.2026)
  6. Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024, section 1 (retrieved 19.10.2026)
  7. Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, section 5 (retrieved 19.10.2026)
  8. Ashridge Trees, how to apply grease bands (retrieved 19.10.2026)