Emerald Ash Borer- You Need a Strategy! Plan whether To Treat, or To Remove and Replant.
In April 2004 the Emerald Ash Borer was confirmed in Indiana. It attacks all varieties of Ash (fraxinus) trees. There are an estimated 147 million Ash trees in Indiana and over the last 15 years they have been extensively planted as ‘street trees’ throughout the state of Indiana. It could be financially devastating to not plan and to lose all of your ash at once.
What you can do… The more educated we are about the EAB the better chance we have of detecting and preventing the financial devastation the pest can bring.
The Facts…
Adults emerge from May to June and peak in July to lay their eggs on the smooth bark of Ash trees. In September the eggs hatch and the larvae bore into the wood to feed. The feeding tubes that they create are damaging to the outer sapwood which kills branches and entire trees. The larvae develop through the winter in the tree and emerge in the spring, starting the cycle all over again.
If your wooded lot includes any form of Ash tree, do your part by being aware of the signs of EAB.
1. Inspect your trees – specifically looking for:
- Emerald Ash Borer (bright green beetle, apx 1/3 inch long)
- D shaped 3-4 millimeter holes (1/8 inch long) in bark
- Woodpecker activity
- Epicormic growth
- Die back in the crown of the tree
2. Take care of your trees; a healthy tree is much less vulnerable to infestation:
3. Burn all of your firewood every winter. Keeping leftover firewood throughout the summer encourages infestation. Do not transport wood to your campsite or lake house etc. Buy it in the county that you are visiting and leave leftovers there. The Emerald Ash Borer on its own can only travel an estimated 1/2 mile per year, but with the help of people transporting them they can cross towns, counties and states at a much faster rate.
4. Create a Management Plant that consider your property needs. The plan might include replacing some of your Ash trees with more tolerant tree species and treating other ash trees while the new trees grow and then re-evaluating your strategy annually.