Did you know that:

to prevent the birds from eating the tops of the grafted trees in shady places, Elder Hilarion recommended greasing the grafts with an ointment made of wax and unsalted pork fat with tobacco?

If on hot days there are spots on trees and shoots, the problem could be resolved by covering these spots with wax ointment, wood oil (lower grade oil obtained from olives) and pine-tree resin boiled together.

The Lavra gardener Hilarion advised to use an ointment made from available components, namely: cattle manure mixed with clay and partly with ash, to smear large dry spots on the trees caused by the sun. Such mix can be used as well to smear inside hollowed trees and fill the cracks on trees caused by various impurities.

We  hope that such simple ointments made of organic raw materials, tested by the monk Hilarion during his long-term gardening practice, did not become less useful over the years to keep the trees of your garden in bearing.

The text was prepared by Natalia Lytvyn