Thanks for the responses, I am going to do some research and find an arborist as you have suggested. That car in the picture is my neighbor's. When I bought this house a year ago, I mentioned that the tree that is closest to the house made me very nervous and my neighbor totally dismissed my concern and acted as if I was silly for mentioning it ("That tree has been there 100 years..."). Even after yesterday, I highly doubt that they would have someone come to inspect the trees to see if there is actually something wrong with the Ashes. I know they will not pay to have it removed unless I can document for them that it has to be. I can at least have the limbs over my yard removed though. I also live in an area where the Emerald Ash Borer has started to appear. I don't know that this is the problem, but of course you are all correct... it has to be looked into.

We don't have EAB here yet, but we do have what are called lilac/ash borers. We have Phaenops gentilis, Chrysophana placida and Agrilus cyanescens. Many non native trees do need help here, but you don't know specifically what to add without a soil test. Unfortunately, they are not free here, but the cost is nominal, maybe $25-30 depending on what you're testing for. I would take soil samples from areas where you haven't fertilized. I just don't see wasting money on additives until you know what's missing from your soil, or what nutrients you already have enough of. I would also be extremely careful with fertilizing right now as we are in severe drought status. If you feel like you need to fertilize before you have soil test results, maybe do half strength. Any problems you're seeing now are most likely drought related as we've had virtually no rain, horrific winds and weeks in the high 90 - 100+ degree temps. We have a 50% chance of rain this weekend, which would certainly help. We've had roughly 4.5" of precip. so far this year. Your soil ph is most likely in the 7 range, as mine is 7.9. I have a Patmore ash, fraxinus pennsylvanica 'Patmore' planted 4-5 years ago and I've not ever fertilized it. It's doing fine. Your ash looks good to me. The native tree choices here are limited which is why we bring in non-natives. FWIW I don't have 10 years experience, just 5, but have planted and killed enough trees that maybe I'm not a newbie anymore, lol. I'm still learning and will be for life. This is a tough place to learn the ropes, but you're doing great. I love your yard! Barb

Mountain ash are very prone to borers that kill the tree in this fashion. Barring some chemical interference like lawn fertilizers or weed killers, I would suspect that the tree may have a borer. Check around the base of the tree for holes in the 1/4 inch range in size. This will tell you what has happened.

Hi there I have a huge white ash tree that I was tending to, fighting off the emerald borers and who knows what else. let me just share my experience, my tree is still going strong, especially after I painted the trunk with thinned flat wall paint to protect the bark from scalding heat. Emerald ash borer beetle is rampant this year and it already killed several trees on the block. I didn't dare to use stronger insecticides on a weakened tree so I used one of those Bayer Rose Ortho granules that feed the plant but also permeate it with insecticide. I found lots of holes on the trunk after a week and lots of dead beetles around. I plugged the holes with caulk, can use play-doh too :), watered and pruned dead branches or ones that showed distress, sealed the cuts off with paint. Now my neighbors are doing the same seeing how my tree recovered. The two ash trees on both sides of mine (at my neighbors) are dead but mine is surviving, for good I hope. It would help if you posted a pic of your tree? Thanks :)