Emerald Ash Borer Prevention and Treatment - Ash Tree Treatment - Summit Tree and Landscape

Time is running out. Your ash trees cannot afford to wait.

Our enviable position here in the greater Rochester area in 2013 has been that we were able to treat and save ash trees before widespread EAB infestation set in. In certain areas, however, time is of the essence. Chili, Scottsville and Henrietta have active infestations and ash trees in those areas are in very real danger. The ash trees in the woods surrounding RIT are now showing signs of woodpecker damage – these areas are heavily infested and the trees will begin to die over the next couple of years. Campuses and towns need to implement their management strategies immediately. According to Deb McCullough of Michigan State University, one of the most economical options is to treat 20% of ash trees each year – this saves trees and money.

Homeowners in theses areas also need to come up with a plan. A healthy ash tree has value in aesthetics, shade, stormwater management and helping to lower utility costs. Summit’s Certified Arborists can help you determine the health of your tree and your treatment costs.

First discovered in Michigan in 2002, Emerald Ash Borer has been in the Rochester area for several years. Millions of ash trees have been destroyed in the last 11 years in Michigan and states nearby. Larvae feeding under the bark prevents the uptake of nutrition, causing the death of the tree.

All existing ash trees within and surrounding the Rochester area are susceptible to infestation, with death of untreated trees following within 3-5 years. The good news is that many communities are beginning to act. For example in early December, 2011, the NYS Parks Department began clearing ash trees along the Genesee Greenway trail in Chili to protect hikers from the inevitable falling trees. The Village of Fairport has completed a plan to remove, treat, and monitor it’s ash trees. The town of Henrietta performed a tree inventory over the 2012-13 winter to help decide how to proceed with the ash trees there. The Village of Scottsville’s tree inventory has been completed and a plan is being formulated. Municipalities can apply for grants from the US Department of Agriculture to help offset the costs of treatment, removal and/or replacement.

If you live in the Rochester area, consider treatment this spring while your ash tree is still healthy instead of waiting for EAB to begin to adversely affect your tree. In Scottsville, Chili and Henrietta treatment in spring 2013 is vital if one desires to save trees.

See Cornell University’s information-packed website here: http://www.nyis.info/index.php?action=eab

Watch this video with your kids – it’s great to have them involved! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKmqnLoJZYA

This map indicates where Cornell feels treatment is urgent in 2012-13 to save trees. The circle represents a 10 mile radius from the largest infestation in Chili. Cornell experts stress that treatment in Scottsville, Chili and Henrietta must begin in spring 2013 to save trees. Check your location on the map to calculate your tree’s risk of infestation and how urgent it is to treat.

http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/82860.html

Monroe County now has an EAB Task Force which has been meeting to help the community deal with EAB and its aftermath. We have been holding community education sessions, making plans for how to deal with the incredible volume of ash wood that will be generated and working out ways for municipalities to work together. We generated this Homeowner’s Guide to EAB:
http://www.gvaudubon.org/files/EAB%20Final%20Flyer.pdf

Don’t know your Ash from your elbow?

To identify an ash tree first look for opposite branching: the branches are attached directly across from one another. The bark of a mature ash tree has a diamond shaped pattern. Young ash trees have smooth bark. Ash tree leaves are compound, consisting of 7-11 leaflets.

For more information on ash tree id: http://www.emeraldashborer.info/identifyashtree.cfm