The literature and practice on the ground is that the injections must be done maximum every two years. IIRC the findings in Journ Arbor are limited, hi value trees every two years. I'm not really sure, but I think Journ Arbor is available to the public. IMHO you are looking at every two years for 10-15 years, then the risk will pass.

But warranty? Srsly?

.02.

Tornado -- I live about 20 miles from where the EAB was first found in Michigan in 2002 or 2003. I lost my large mature ash trees. But, I had a juvenile tree that was around 20-25 feet tall at the time, it suffered a little bit of dieback, the early symptoms. Then, Bayer Advanced came on the market just in the nick of time. It works great, tree recovered from the dieback and is perfectly healthy. It gets its yearly dose of 2 bottles by Mid-April. There are now several store brand/generic versions of Bayer Advanced with the same AI at the same concentration that now retail for around $12.99 a bottle, versus $19.99 - $22.99 for the Bayer Advanced.

I suppose there is the possibility of resistance to imadichloprid by the EAB, but for now at least this product seems to do the job, and is readily available to the homeowner. Has to be applied annually and by the time the buds break to allow adequate uptake into the tree.

I don't know if the risk of EAB would ever really go away -- here, many trees didn't die completely, just died back and then sent up a number of suckers. These seem to grow into large, bushy masses. When they get large enough, the EAB will just get those, and they will die off and repeat the cycle. So, I guess EAB populations would diminish, but I doubt they would ever go away completely. Just my guess, though.

I left the stumps of my mature trees, had them cut low but not ground out. We had the trees cut in 2005 or 2006. The stumps were still sprouting as of last May, when the township came through with a new pedestrian pathway and removed the stumps in the process. This was despite my routine removal of new shoots and several applications of roundup, albeit in a casual manner as I sprayed for other weeds, not a serious effort to kill the stumps. So, there is a lot of life left in those old root systems on ash trees.

Whoa not so fast. I don't think Emerald Ash Borer is anywhere near you yet. There is no point in treating if it is not around your trees. You can keep up to date by subscribing to the invasive species newsletter. Here is their E.mail invasive@ars.usda.gov. Or checking with your local cooperative extension service. Lots of good reputable people in my business, but there are also others that will sell you a preventative treatment that is not needed. Unless Emerald Ash Borer is on your doorstep you have plenty of time to research both the pest and control companies. As for warranty, unfortunately in the tree and insect control business there are so many variables that I doubt anyone will absolutely guaranty your trees will live. You may be a very honest person and only use the warranty if EAB is actually did kill your tree, but others may try to use it even if the tree dies from other causes. Research does show that Emamectn benzoate does kill EAB and that it will give you two year protection.

Here is a link that might be useful: Site you can see where EAB is now.

IPM man, can you post that link of the chemicals again.

Toronado, there were a whole bunch of things on that list that you could use that were much more readily available. Stuff that you could DIY. I didn't see Bayer on that list and wondered why not.

I agree, I think it would be far fetched to expect a warranty on the spraying but who knows.

i have seen so many dead ash up here in MI ...

that i can not think that ANY cost above removal is worthwhile ...

ken

I don't know what link I posted before but below is a good one.
Merit is the only control that is available to the homeowner.(That is what Bayer Tree and Shrub is)
I talked with the people doing the research on this and they think that Emamectn benzoate is the better treatment as it lasts two years. I don't know why Merit only last one; it can kill other pests up to three years.
Remember though that there is no point to treating if you don't have the problem.
By the way Hi to Cut em down ken.
Yes we are loosing a lot of ash around here to Ash decline. There are lots of theories about the cause of Ash decline but no answers yet. Some ash are still healthy and may stick around to strengthen the gene pool. I am not sure that they have a big problem with Ash decline where the OP lives though. One should keep this problem in mind, and consider the general health of the tree when deciding whether to treat or cut.

Here is a link that might be useful: EAB Linl

Yeah, so far so good. I remember reading there may be a delay time so I am thinking about being pro-active in treatment with my two remaining specimen trees. How long is that? Figure it is pretty safe for me to begin treatment as soon as there is an established EAB presence in Missouri?

Far as the warranty goes, I dunno. It is something I watched some mechanics working in our shop have to deal with so I got used to asking myself. The case was always "do you warranty this head gasket job to fix my problem?" the mechanics would naturally say "no, there may be other problems in the motor". Naturally the answer was you should buy a junkyard motor with a limited warranty or a crate engine with a year or two of a warranty or realize you were rolling the dice with the near headgasket. At least that is my thinking in desiring a world of absolutes.

Thanks for the links and the new product information.

For a large tree Merit will take 6-8 weeks to get through the whole tree. I know people are very worried about their trees but treating as soon as Emerald Ash Borer hits your state is still jumping the gun. If and when it hits your state, keep checking with the Extension service to see where it is. Check your trees and the Ash in the vicinity. EAB is not a quick killer so you will have plenty of time to treat when it is near you. Borers typically do not expand their territory very fast unless carried to new areas by people. Treating before EAB is actually in your immediate area is a waste of money.

About human vaccines...

Who knows if some vaccines are really necessary. Sometimes all you have to do is stay healthy to fight off some disease. I can understand the reasoning behind vaccines for serious ones but for mild ones, I don't know. It's like that with plants.

I personally think flu vaccines are worthless when all it takes is dirt cheap vitamin D supplement to do the same job PLUS it works against cancer, cold, asthma, etc. (I'm not making it up at all; vitamin D is much more important to our health than most realizes. Vitamin D deficiency is widespread. We need much more vitamin D than what the doctors or gov't are telling us to take - www.vitamindcouncil.org).

Sometimes, it's better to focus on keeping soil healthy to keep plants healthy to fight all kinds of healthy and it doesn't cost much.

Sometimes, it's better to focus on keeping soil healthy to keep plants healthy to fight all kinds of DISEASES and it doesn't cost much.

I wish that we could edit our messages to correct mistakes...

Borers typically do not expand their territory very fast unless carried to new areas by people.

That would be reassuring if it weren't for the fact people are transporting it all over the place. That's the key issue. I heard a story at SMA last year that CA stopped some firewood at the border infested with EAB.

Dan

Sad isn't it? With all the news, posters, seminars and everything else, we still have people who have never heard of Woolly Adelgid, Asian Longhorned Beetle, Emerald Ash Borer etc. and give them rides to new feeding grounds. Years after the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid quarantine we had someone dig up an infested Hemlock in CT. and drove it up to NH. to plant in their yard.
I stand by my point though that treating before the pest is in the area is not prudent.

I'm doomed if ALB ever comes here. Apparently, they have a thing for Acer Truncatum...