In response to severe Emerald Ash Borer infestations in our area, a Save Your Ash group organized. At a recent meeting nearby I heard some encouraging info. Individual trees are being successfully treated. The plugs you mentioned were one treatment that was recommended. I'm glad to hear they are working for your trees. A soil drench chemical was another homeowner treatment they recommended. A leading researcher from Michigan State University and 2 local arborist spoke on the effectiveness of these treatments. Info on both can be found in the homeowners treatment guide file that links from the bottom of the Ash group's page. There are other pesticides that can be used by trained and licensed professionals. So it is very likely that key landscape ashes can be saved if we make an effort.

Here is a link that might be useful: Saving Ash Trees

naturegirl: my ash produces seeds & has larger leaves that the newer varieties... it was labelled 'green ash' when I got it as a 'freebie' with some plant catalog order years ago. It is a nice shade tree now & hate to lose it so hope the plugs work until I get another variety of shade tree going well. Will try & see if the Imidacloprid soil drenching material might be available here to also use. Here, the Raywood (?sp.) ash variety seem to be less affected ... does it matter as to treatment as to which kind of the borers the tree has?

Because of opposition to forest thinning & controlled burns, thousands of acres of mostly our state tree- the piñon- are brown with the borer/beetle-killed stressed trees. Will be many years before new growth piñons will be big enough to produce our beloved tradition of picking piñon nuts in the Fall! Doubt even the dead trees will be of any use for wood pellets or other firewood uses ...

It is such a shame...ashes are really pretty trees. My parents went into their yard a number of years ago and the ash borer had killed the tree and it had fallen into the pool! At that time, there wasn't much talk about the borer and we didn't know it was even sick! So strange. What a let down when you love a tree and it dies or is sick. Glad to hear there is hope for the future trees.

Vieja, I don't know about other borers. And I don't know much about pesticide treatments beyond what I heard at the workshop. Around here the talk is all about the Emerald Ash borer, so when you mentioned borers I immediately jumped to thinking of EAB, especially with the recent workshop fresh in my mind. Along highways on the east side of our state there are miles of dead trees. Around here there are many dead ash trees and lots of ashes with very little growth this spring. They will be dead soon, too. With your early treatment it sounds like you may well save yours.

The pinon is a tree I've heard about but never seen. I'm sure I'd enjoy gathering the seeds, too. Sorry to hear that they are hard hit by pests, too.

vieja, I grew up in northern New Mexico, and I have fond memories of the whole family (cousins, grandparents, etc.) going out to pick piñon nuts. I'm sad to here that the next couple of generations might not have that experience.

I've been looking for a tree for my front yard to replace a birch that we lost a couple of years ago in an ice storm. My tree guy suggested an Autumn Purple Ash tree. His opinion is that, while there have been some reported cases of ash borer in Illinois, they're all clustered up around Chicagoland, and unlikely to spread downstate for several decades...and even if/when that happens, ash borer can be treated in its early stages. (I have a tree guy come out a couple of times a year for a general tree health & pruning check.) I'm torn, though. I like the look of the Autumn Purple, and I like the idea of diversifying the tree selection--I don't have any Ash trees, and I'm fairly certain there aren't any in our neighborhood or even our (really small) town. On the other hand, the local nurseries all stock several kinds of ash trees, so they must sell them to someone. It's not like there are so many ash trees around here that all the trees would be gone if/when the ash borer does get here, but on the other hand, I don't know that I want to take that chance and then worry for the next two decades (or leave a problem for the next homeowner). And we're already dealing with pine borers in the area as it is--I have my one problem tree treated regularly, but pine trees by all the schools, and up and down the county roads, are browning more and more each year, so it's obvious that no one else wants to put the money and effort into fighting it, so I wonder if I'm fighting a losing battle. Given that, I don't know that I want to have another borer to deal with, and the ash borer stuff I've found on the web seems to say that, while you can treat ash borer, you can't completely eradicate it from your tree.

So, any advice from anyone? Is it worth taking the chance as long as I'm aware and keep an eye on things? Or is it just not worth it, considering how many other trees I could choose?

What are ACE plugs? I have a Patmore Ash that I have just learned has been hit by Ash Borers. I have been told that there is no hope for the tree even though it is still budding in the areas that are not "dead." The tree is of good size and very pretty when fully leafed out. Is it still a good time of the season to try the ACE Plugs? Is ACE Plugs the name that I ask for at my local nursery supply store?

Our tree pruner told us about the ACE plugs & we bought/buy them at a local nursery. The first year we drilled holes around the trunk & pounded the plugs in in the Spring when the sap was rising. This Spring we did the same a second time. I have pics of the tree before any plugs, the first season after the first plugs & now the tree after the second plugs inserted the second Spring .... pics show quite an improvement! How long will it last? Don't know, but will enjoy the shade while it lasts & hope for the best!

Your local county extension agent or university agri. dept. would probably know where the plugs could be purchased in your area.

Good luck!

- vieja

I have just had my power restored after 5 days in the dark due to branches from a neighbor's ash tree hitting the lines (there were 250,000 people in SE Michigan without power early this week).

This darn ash has splits in its bark (going upwards) some as deep as 1/2 inch (on a tree whose diameter is only about a foot) and stretching 6-10 inches. It seems to have holes all over the place (I'm assuming from insects of whatever sort) and though it has some bare branches (mostly due to upper shading by the tree) it seems happy as can be.

My nieghbor attributes its resistance to the EAB to his occasional spilling of battery acid (among other things) near the trunk (behind his garage).

Personally we'd like to see it succumb to EAB or something as it shades a large portion of where I put my raised beds for veggies (it was smaller back then).

So, the moral of the story is wish for the tree to die, curse it regularily and contemplate its demise regularily and it will survive, thrive and be just fine.

~Chills

Good luck battling the Emerald Ash Borer.

Fighting back is better than killing every ash tree for miles, and thus destroying any hope of finding any ash trees with natural resistance to the EAB.

What about Safari insecticide by Valent ?
It's now been labelled for control of EAB.

http://www.valentpro.com/safari/pdf/Safari_EAB_Press_Release-OHIO.pdf

Obviously nobody's going to go around and treat all the ashes in the FOREST with this...but for residences, businesses, municipalities, schools, cemetaries, etc. etc....
....that possibility could work, assuming the $$$'s in the individual budgets to do it.

Wonder how my posting on the GardenWeb got on a Google site for ACE tree plugs?

Google is a search engine for the web. When you post something on a web and Google scans that webpage, your post is on Google.

Google is a search engine for the web. When you post something on the web and Google scans the page where you entered your post, your post is on Google.

Thanks, Brandon: Guess I hadn't run into this before & was sort of wondering how my GardenWeb posting got there! No, my e-mail address was not available on this Google posting ... just my user name.

I live in AZ. As is customary, my ash tree dropped its leaves in late Dec. and subsequently leafed beautifully Jan. Over the past 2 weeks, leaves are turning yellow and dropping as though it's December again. HELP! I love my tree. I'm afraid I'll lose it. What can I do

Peggy, ash trees catch something called anthracnose. Do the pictures below or the descriptions if you google search for ash anthracnose match? Has this been a fairly damp winter for you or have you piled up a bunch of loose leaves by the trees like I did six or seven years back?

Here is a link that might be useful: University anthracnose link

Peggy: are there any holes in the bark to suggest the ash borer? If so, trying the ACE plugs mught be worth a try ... it surely has given our ash tree a second lease on life & it is doing beautifully; for how long? ... have to wait & see! This year we are going to skip the ACE plugs & see how it does & maybe try the plugs every other year or so.

Some are now planting the pistache tree here now & it is beautiful in the Fall as the leaves turn brilliant red & supposedly it has a deep tap root with few lateral ones so good on small properties & on the streets.

Good luck!

- vieja