Category Archives: Ash Trees

Delaware city workers take down the dead ash tree.

Copyrighted delaware ohio city workers

Well, this morning the city of Delaware did their deed and chopped down the dead ash tree near my home.

The tree had been declining in recent years and last year the city had scraped away some of the bark to expose the larvae trails of the emerald green ash borer. I’m glad the tree is gone as any larvae living there could infect all the other trees on the street, if they haven’t already.

I’ve heard that researchers are working on an insecticide, and some are being recommended now, but they don’t seem to offer a real effective solution. It would seem that any insecticide would need to be systemic to allow the roots to uptake the insecticide. Supposedly, the emerald ash borer prefers to lay her eggs in the tender shoots toward the top of the tree, making a spray insecticide more difficult to do on these large trees.

The trees along my street belong to the city, so it’s not the homeowner’s responsibility to treat them. It will be interesting to see what variety of tree the city plants as a replacement.

Read my two previous posts with photos of the larvae trails and “D” hole, as well as informational links for the Emerald Ash Borer.

Little green borer get off my ash

Get off my ash … a sad update

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Get off my Ash … a sad update

Copyrighted diseased ash treeIn early June, I wrote about the potential for the Emerald Ash Borer to destroy all the trees along my street – which are ALL Ash trees.

At the time I wrote the article, one of the trees along the street was ‘suspect’. But this lone tree has always deteriorated in the July/August period. For the past 4 years, its leaves turn brown and drop. By the end of August, it was mostly leafless. Since it seemed to be a different variety of ash, I attributed it to some disease.

Well, this year it didn’t leaf out in the spring and by May, it was sprouting an abundance of leaves along the trunk. Copyrighted ash borer larvae trailsThis is usually a sign that a tree is in the last throes of life … or death as in this case.

Yesterday I noticed that some of the bark had been pulled away from the trunk. Sure enough, the tunnels made by the larva were visible. I wondered if this check had been made by fellow residents, or if indeed the city Parks & Rec folks had done it.

Copyrighted ash borer D-holeThen I looked at the trunk to see if I could see any of the “D-shaped” exit holes that the adult female makes after she lays her eggs. It wasn’t hard to find the hole as it was larger than I expected.

OH, DRAT!!!

This is just so sad. Our trees have been growing for 12 years, and our street trees have begun to form a canopy over the street. I suppose it won’t be long until I come home some day to find all the trees gone. Then we’ll have to start all over with new little saplings planted by the city.

To learn more about the Emerald Ash Borer, the Department of Natural Resources is a good web site for complete information.

Copyright © 2007. Reproduction of any portion of this blog post or the images is prohibited by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. If this post is being viewed on any site other than www.ReesesPiecesOfRealEstate,com then the material has been stolen without permission. Violators will be reported.

Little green borer … get off my ASH!

Copyrighted ash street treesThe original developer of my neighborhood stipulated that the builders had to plant a certain number of street trees per every foot of frontage of the home’s lot. Street trees are those that are planted between the sidewalk and the street. Generally, that little piece of land belongs to the city, including the trees.

The trees that were planted on my street are all ASH trees, and they’re now about 12 years old and as you can see in the photo, are looking very nice. Ash trees are known to be a great shade tree, so many have been planted in people’s yards as well.

As we’re all too aware, there’s a tiny green insect, called the Emerald Ash Borer, that has destroyed thousands of trees in Michigan and in the past 3 years has moved into Ohio.

Yes, it’s that darn “state up north” again! GO BUCKS!

Two years ago, an infected tree was found within a mile of my street. At that time, Ohio had a policy to cut down ALL ash trees within a half mile radius of the infected tree. So the State cut all the ash trees up to the end of our street.

We breathed a sigh of relief but knew we weren’t “out of the woods” yet. (sorry for that pun!)

We’re all so afraid we’re going to lose our beautiful street trees – it’s probably just a matter of time. Each time we see a city Parks & Recreation truck we look out the windows to see if they’re going to tie the dreaded orange plastic ribbon on a tree signifying the tree is destined for destruction.

Did you know that YOU can help my neighbors and me keep our beautiful trees?

If you plan to visit any central Ohio campgrounds, please don’t bring your own firewood! Your firewood might contain the larvae or the borer.

I just know you would feel very bad to know you took away our pretty shade trees! 

Click here for a sad update!

Copyright © 2007. Reproduction of any portion of this blog post or the images is prohibited by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. If this post is being viewed on any site other than www.ReesesPiecesOfRealEstate,com then the material has been stolen without permission. Violators will be reported.