Alas, after eight years of treating our three stately ash trees up north, I am sad to say I am losing the battle against emerald ash borer. I had faithfully drenched each tree every spring with a product called Bayer Advanced Tree and Shrub that contains imidacloprid. My neighbors' trees had all died but I was delighted mine were protected - until this year. I noticed one of the ash trees showed significant die back and created a massive amount of seeds - exactly what happened to the other trees on our street before they died. Nasty ash borer! Alas, I could not afford the expensive injections suggested by my local tree company who charged over $700 to treat my trees previously. Instead of these beautiful canopy trees, we are planting red and white pines. As I drove home last weekend, I noticed the highway was lined with dead and dying trees. These were not just ash trees but also included maple, pine and what appeared to be populars. Our native trees are under attack because folks move firewood infested with insects like the emerald ash borer for which they have no defense. (The newest invader is the Asian Longhorned beetle currently found in New York, Ohio and Massachusetts, and Chicago). Our twin lakes in Iosco county were first hit when a thoughtless person ignored the DNR warnings and did just that and the ash borer quickly spread from yard to yard and into nearby forests. So as you go up north this fall, please do not bring firewood!
Update: This spring we found two of these old ash trees are still hanging in there and one is half dead. I will continue to treat them with the Bayer Advanced Tree and Shrub but I did find out I need to use twice what the product calls for on the label for larger trees. I'm still fighting the war! Not ready to give up yet.
Posted by: Katheryn Krupa | June 10, 2012 at 10:22 AM