Whitewashing Trees

[sagebirdciderworks]

I am planting 50 apples trees of 6 different varieties on dwarf and semi-dwarf rootstock. I am planning to whitewash the trunks to protect against sunburn and attempt to help protect against rodents and borers. How young is too young to paint my trees? Will I damage the tree if I paint over some buds? Thank you in advance. I am new to this and looking for all the help I can get. Also, my orchard is in the hills of Virginia in the United States (zone 6a).