The ash tree in front of my home has been declining rapidly. A few of the top limbs are now bare. The stress sprouts are re-growing. I had pruned them a couple weeks ago to remove them.
Today I checked for “D” holes to see if the female adult ash borer had left yet and I found quite a few such holes around the trunk.
Now based on what I’ve read, the larvae, from the female’s eggs, will begin to make their tunnels as they feed under the bark.
DRAT!
Read more posts about my ash tree saga.
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Elaine,
We’ve lost almost all our ash trees here in SE Michigan as well. Gone, but not forgotten. I’ll always remember their last blaze of glory in their spectacular fall colors two years ago. Ah, memories!
Yes, Vance, I’ve heard that Michigan lost a lot of income as well. Rumor has it that our (Ohio) problem was sped up by campers bringing firewood into Ohio from their Michigan vacation.
That’s sad, it does sound like her swan song. So the Ash is going the way of the Elm? And what we need is an anteater type animal who wants to or can live in the Great Lakes and take care of these little devils. Sigh
About 3 years ago, I attended a ODNR meeting when the borer was first found in Delaware County. The borer originally came from … guess where … CHINA. They think it transported in the pallets of wood boxes in the freighters entering the Great Lakes.
It doesn’t kill the variety of ash trees in China. So they were looking at what the difference is to their ashes vs ours.
Our ash trees were killed in 2002 by EAB.
Now, I have seen what it does… Few ashes remain here, MOST of them are nothing but sprouts. I recomend (My opinion) that you leave one base sprout on your tree; that way, if the main stem dies, the sprout will most likely remain, as long as EAB doesnt eat the bark underneath it. One tree near our house is nothing but a base stump, which has grown to be about four feet tall. It’s essentially a coppice. I’ve been growing ashes from the remaining trees, but they’re very rare. I wont let them all dissapear in Michigan. Best of luck with your ashes!
Thanks for your suggestions. Unfortunately the ashes along my street are considered street trees – planted by and the responsibility of the city.
I recently spoke with someone from the Parks & Rec Dept and he said he thought they would be removing our trees as they thought they were too damaged. The city will then be responsible for planting replacements, but of course they’ll be small and we’ll have to wait another 10 yrs to get a nice canopy.