Emerald Ash Borer, cut or treat?

[SJhawkins]

Have a good number of ash trees here in the Midwest, took down a good amount of them this year as they were to close for comfort around the house (they were planted by the previous Owners 30 years ago).

Have a handful left that not exactly sure what I want to do with, with emerald ash borer on the rise in our county its just a matter of time. I see three choices, let them grow until they become infected, cut down or treat every year.

One of the bigger ones, not really huge, maybe 40' give or take is still at the point its an easy drop, another 5-10 years of growth will change that. Not sure pumping chemicals in the ground 50' from our well every year sounds like a great option. Current thinking is to enjoy it this year and take that tree in the fall or next spring. The others in the back I can deal with later when needed.

We're we have a wide variety of trees on a few acres so guess we are lucky.

For those who have been dealing with this what has been your management?

 

[Dash man]

My neighborhood in PA has lost 90% of the ash trees from that critter. We were one of the few that treated our ash trees. We just used a product available at Home Depot and it appears to have worked so far. We are on city water. We only spread the liquid about five feet from the trunk and didn’t drill any holes. My neighbor across the street did the same thing successfully. My neighbors on each side of us lost their trees, one of which had his tree treated professionally. But I think he waited until his tree was already dying.
Good luck. Lots of trees on my street have been taken down, and some dead ones remain.

 

[Sunset]

The emerald ash borer devastated our neighborhood, as most trees were ash.
We lost our nicest biggest tree.
Now I see from some folks stumps that the tree is rising again.

I would not preemptively cut down the tree because even if it's infected it takes a year or two to be killed. At that point, it's less likely to fall due to winds as there are no leaves. Basically you can take your time to cut it down once dead.

Most importantly, is the new growth I see around here, shows me the insect is like locust, it devastates an area and moves on. If your trees are lucky due to various possible reasons the insect may move on and your trees will be safe.

I would avoid chemicals since you use a well.

We planted other types of trees long ago, from bare roots or seeds, it was cheap and we have more trees than any neighbor, variety is important.

 

[razztazz]

The following is true story circa 2019. Don't know where in The Midwest you are but I am in Iowa & part of the Omaha Metro. I had an Ash tree and heard of this ash borer thing. So, I called a fully licensed and bonded professional tree operation. They told me in this area the Ash Borer was not really a problem no matter what they say because Winter kills them off every year and they never have enough time to do any continuous damage to the tree. There is Government money involved and States and counties wanted it because, why not? Hence all the city tree removals and "Ash Borer crisis." I hate to hand one to the conspiracy theorists but it just sounded so "why am I not surprised!?"

So, since I was getting sick and tired of raking leaves every Fall and keeping it trimmed away from my neighbor every 2 or 3 years, (Yes, I actually give a damn about that stuff) I told them to get rid of it anyway. And, I'll present the Honest Businessman of the Century award to those guys. They could have played the game and charged me for annual treatments or just spooked me into a tree removal I didn't actually need.

The moral of the story is, I guess, don't worry too much about Ash Borers and treatments and chemicals in the ground water. You can remove the trees or not, or wait a while and think about it.

Also, I don't know how old you are but if you will be living a fairly long time and Climate Change factors into any of your planning, OK, maybe now is the best time to clear the deck just in case.

 

[braumeister]

They told me in this area the Ash Borer was not really a problem no matter what they say because Winter kills them off every year and they never have enough time to do any continuous damage to the tree.

I would call that very suspect information. They started out in Michigan, where the heaviest infestations still are, and have spread from there. Not exactly mild climate. They are still relatively rare in Nebraska, so I think your source just may not have much familiarity with them.

 

[razztazz]

I would call that very suspect information. They started out in Michigan, where the heaviest infestations still are, and have spread from there. Not exactly mild climate. They are still relatively rare in Nebraska, so I think your source just may not have much familiarity with them.

Yes, it's one of those things that gets back to whom can you really trust? I deliberately avoided amateurs and fly-by-nighters for that reason. But even the subject matter "experts" are often wrong! But at least now I don't have to mess with the leaves.

 

[SJhawkins]

Also, I don't know how old you are but if you will be living a fairly long time and Climate Change factors into any of your planning, OK, maybe now is the best time to clear the deck just in case.

As of now I'm good to go running a saw in 60 foot bucket, how long will last is anyone's best guess. We have good couple hundred trees on our lot, giving attention to the ones within striking distance house has/is my primary concern the past few years. It's looking good except for those few ash I can't see to take the saw too!

 

[SJhawkins]

We planted other types of trees long ago, from bare roots or seeds, it was cheap and we have more trees than any neighbor, variety is important.

We did the same, bought them from our DNR for nickels 30 years ago, we have lots of volunteers coming up now, suppose I could start a tree farm for a retirement gig

 

[RunningBum]

I had a couple ash trees that would do a lot of damage to my house if they died and fell, so I had them removed. One was twin-trunked and one side would have given my house a shot, the other my neighbor's. We've seen a lot of ash trees die in the woods around here (Blue Ridge mtns) with some fallen.

 

[travelover]

Former Michiganian here. All my ash trees died and I found that within a year or so they all broke off and fell over, some quite dramatically with lots of "barber chair" breaks. It played holy hell with the power lines for several years, too.

 

[MC Rider]

I have not heard of anything like that here, and don't want to!
We have a seriously HUGE shamel ash in the front yard, and I don't even want to know what it might cost to trim, much less cut down.

 

[38Chevy454]

The borer wiped out all the ash trees around Cincinnati area here. Not an expert, but i think it's tough to prevent, and near impossible to get rid of once borer is present.

There are some new young ash trees coming back, not sure if the borer is gone or will affect those trees once they get older and bigger.

 

[Graybeard]

I would not preemptively cut down the tree because even if it's infected it takes a year or two to be killed. At that point, it's less likely to fall due to winds as there are no leaves.

That is not true. I have several dead Ash trees, the tallest is about 70-80'. It has been dead for 2 years and this Winter with high winds the top 1/3 broke off. If a car had been driving by it probably would have speared the car killing people as the piece that broke was large at it's base and fell from a good height.

They told me in this area the Ash Borer was not really a problem no matter what they say because Winter kills them off every year and they never have enough time to do any continuous damage to the tree.

That is not true. You can't swing a dead cat here without hitting a dead Ash tree, they are everywhere. They grow in clusters so where there's one dead there's several. The Winters here are quite cold and it never slowed the Emerald Ash Borer one bit. Around the corner from me, there are even larger Ash trees and huge limbs have fallen next to the road. I will not drive past that if it is very windy out, heck they can fall just from past wind weakening them.

 

[travelover]

That is not true. I have several dead Ash trees, the tallest is about 70-80'. It has been dead for 2 years and this Winter with high winds the top 1/3 broke off. If a car had been driving by it probably would have speared the car killing people as the piece that broke was large at it's base and fell from a good height.


That is not true. You can't swing a dead cat here without hitting a dead Ash tree, they are everywhere. They grow in clusters so where there's one dead there's several. The Winters here are quite cold and it never slowed the Emerald Ash Borer one bit. Around the corner from me, there are even larger Ash trees and huge limbs have fallen next to the road. I will not drive past that if it is very windy out, heck they can fall just from past wind weakening them.

My experience as well. Once dead they just shatter. And cold doesn't do a thing to the borers.

 

[Markola]

Our city in Minnesota sent us a letter saying they are curtailing Emerald Ash Borer treatment and we will either have to pay for it ourselves or the city will soon take down the (beautiful) trees along the street. Our internet research indicates that the poison treatment gets into nearby plants, which in turn kills insects, including pollinators, so we will let the city remove the trees and they’ll plant something else.

 

[Sunset]

That is not true. I have several dead Ash trees, the tallest is about 70-80'. It has been dead for 2 years and this Winter with high winds the top 1/3 broke off. If a car had been driving by it probably would have speared the car killing people as the piece that broke was large at it's base and fell from a good height.

....The Winters here are quite cold and it never slowed the Emerald Ash Borer one bit. Around the corner from me, there are even larger Ash trees and huge limbs have fallen next to the road. I will not drive past that if it is very windy out, heck they can fall just from past wind weakening them.

I stand corrected about dead Ash trees.
I guess we were lucky with ours, I had to cut it down after it was dead, but never felt in danger of any parts breaking while I was up 24 feet in the tree
with the ladder tied to the tree.

We also had our neighbor's tree sit there dead for 4 years, other than some small branches rotting off the top, it stayed up until cut down. We were kinda hoping it would fall as those neighbors historically leave dead trees/bushes on their property.

 

[SJhawkins]

Thanks for the replies, we decided we are going to start taking down the ones that will become more of a PIA if allowed to grow another 20-30 feet, not to mention dealing with bigger stumps is no joy either, that is if they don't become infected first.

First signs of infection they will all come down with the hope maybe it will slow it down for someone else.

 

[Winemaker]

I lost 3 80' Ash trees on my rental property. Two I was able to cut down by myself and gave the wood to DSIL for firewood. Not so fortunate with 3rd, as it leaned toward the house. The tree men had to access the tree via my neighbor's yard, and I paid to remove a dead one on their tree as compensation. They put large mats down to lessen the damage of the Bobcat tractor on his yard, cost me $5-6000 about 5 years ago. At least I was able to deduct it as an expense. I made a beautiful bourbon/whiskey bar with the wood.

 

[punkinhead]

I lost one ash to the borers about 5 years ago but held out hope for my others. Two years ago they started showing signs of stress so I treated them then later saw on the label how bad the stuff was for insects. In particular, they are bad for bees. I don't want to contribute to the loss of bees so I quit treating them and now my remaining ashes are dead. I'll take them down this summer.

Fortunately I have a very good mix of maples, oaks, sycamores, walnuts, and cherries so hopefully I have some immunity to species specific diseases or insects.

 

[Koolau]

This reminds me of my youth when Dutch Elm disease wiped out most of the trees on our street. It was sad even to a youngster. YMMV

 

[Graybeard]

This reminds me of my youth when Dutch Elm disease wiped out most of the trees on our street. It was sad even to a youngster. YMMV

Elm trees are making a come back. Some trees had resistance and they bred these and now they can grow past the point where the saplings growing from the old tree would die. I forget when that was but I think around 10 or 15 years and they succumb to DED. Of course, we'll never live to see fully grown Elms. I have some Ash trees that never were effected or weren't attacked, they are alive but they are small trees like 20' and about 25 years old.