the peeps who interpreted what i meant to say were correct ... additionally though... of all the diversity out there.. why do you want to bang your head on the brick wall called ash ... just before EAB came along.. in 2000 .... i invested in 6 autumn purple ash at 40$ each ... and spent ten years watching them grow wonderfully .... i just finished removing the last of them last spring .. nothing more disappointing than watching your investment.. and emotional attachment die to the vermin ... and also had some other conservation dist. ash [in other words.. green and white] and they succumbed before the other ... contrary to claims that one version was bug proof .... so i asked... why.. why.. why????? you cant find anything other than an ash or an oak???? heck.. i would plant a maple before i would plant an ash ... and i hate maple.. lol ... perhaps a new post on what we would recommend beyond ash.. would give you a multitude of ideas other than ash ... since you have so many oaks .... on the other hand.. if you are talking about investing a few bucks.. and are the experimenting type.. and have no qualms about chainsawing them when the bug hits.. go for it .... which as a farm owner you probably are.. as compared to those who get all emotionally attached to the plant babes, and who have a coronary killing a bug infested tree ....... what the heck ... worse thing that happens is you find out an ash is an ash ..... and EAB is indiscriminate .... good luck ken ps: as an aside.. is it possible that it could be against the law to plant ash.. since so many states are destroying them????? i know its a crime to cross state lines with cut ash.. could it be a crime to plant????

the type of pruning i think you're referring to is called "pollarding" a tree. it's common here (Imperial Valley, CA) to do that to Indian Laurels, Mulberries, and sometimes Mesquites if they really get out of hand. I'm not sure if a Shamel Ash could handle that much pruning, but I figured if you knew the proper term it might help you in your searching

Hello Hechmo, You'll need to moisten the soil volume from the planting containers plus a little surrounding soil as well. Keep in mind that one gallon of water moistens about 1 cubic foot of soil. Your 36" box tree has about 27 cubic feet of container soil, so you'll need at least 27 gallons of water. The 24" box tree has about 8 cubic feet of soil to moisten - so at apply at least 8 gallons. The frequency will depend on the time of year and when you planted. The schedule from page 14 of Landscape Watering by the Numbers recommends the following for plants installed in fall through spring. Weeks 1 & 2 - water once every 3 - 4 days Weeks 3 & 4 - water once every 6 - 7 days Weeks 5 & 6 - water once every 7 - 10 days Weeks 7 & 8 - water once every 10 - 14 days By week 8 it will be the first of February and you can stay on the 10 - 14 day schedule until the end of that month or even mid March, depending on the weather. When temperatures begin creeping up, you'll need to increase the frequency gradually so by summer you are watering twice a week. Here is a link that might be useful: Landscape Watering by the Numbers

You need a critter cam with night vision (or just start recording with your existing cameras). Sure the equipment isn't cheap and you don't have much money after buying the house BUT $200-$400 is a lot cheaper than removing the tree at your own expense. If you can stop the culprit or at least prove who it is, you might be able to save the tree or recoup the removal costs from the culprit.