Can't see any fungus, only harmless lichens. They will not kill your tree, but they grow on your tree because it isn't fully healthy

It looks like that flower box was likely added around the tree (as opposed to the tree being planted in the box to begin with). Assuming that's the case, it can't be helping. It's hard to know how much of a roll, if any, it played in the tree's decline.

Sorry to say, your ash tee is a goner...not because of fungus, but because of the borers.

OP here...

Weird about the lichens.. it was so abundant that I was sure that was the cause! Guess not.

As far as the boxes around the trees: Those were added last year, and since we added them the trees actually came back with 30% more foliage than last year, not to mention all of the new shoots sprouting up are brand new this year. We had zero in the past years. We kept the box fertilized pretty well last year. I have no idea if the flower boxes had anything to do with the new growth but I knew [and have had] neighbors coming up saying, "hey, so those flower boxes killed your trees, huh?"

Not sure if its related, but we had a beautiful 14' shrub take a hard hit last year as well from some sort of mites that left a white residue all over the leaves and ended up killing most of it. I hacked it down to about 10% and its growing back slowly this year.

lindac92: Do you suggest its time to put them to rest? I'll be honest.. I've never been a fan of these trees. Everyone else has awesome Bradford Pears and we're stuck with these sickly looking things. I've been looking for a reason to cut them down and start fresh.

Kisk, what part of the country are you in? EAB was accidentally imported from China and may threaten fraxinus family ash trees with extinction.

The tree's roots are healthy but the vascular system is not. So the new shoots.

Lord knows what is going on in the planter. Many trees do not like the soil raised over their roots. It smothers them and messes with the tree's balance of feeder roots right below the surface and all. That little planter isn't going to smother many roots. Might rot the trunk but that is a long term thing and your tree has bigger issues.

Bradfords lol. They smell like urine when in flower but they do look good from inside before they blow apart. Many state DNRs will ask you not to plant them as they are an exotic pest tree.

I feel for you. EAB is going to be killing tons of ash around here shortly.

I'm in north Alabama... Huntsville. Yea Bradfords are great till they split, which they all do. They're EVERYWHERE around here.

My wife is set on trying to nurse these things back to health, but like you said it looks like the trunk/branch system is failing and I'd rather not fight a losing battle if its a lost cause. What do you think?

I don't know where you live....but here in Iowa, the city would have cut those trees down a year ago. Yep they are goners....but don't replace with Bradford pears....they have another set of problems, mainly breaking in snows and wind storms.

The reason your trees are putting out new growth is that the beetles have destroyed the old tissue but the roots are still pretty good and are "trying to save" the tree ( trees think, don't ya know??) and putting out new growth.

Agree with the others. Toast. Once an ash tree starts heavily sprouting from the ground like that, it is usually in the advanced stages of decline and the upper part of the tree will stop sprouting leaves completely within 2-3 years.

We have a lot of trees with the lichens, similar to yours. Especially on ubiquitous ash and red maple. They seem to pop up when it is really damp in the spring or summer. But I don't see them as a major problem and they are no worse on struggling trees than on healthy ones.

All, please be aware that in addition to the imported emerald ash borer, there are-and have been forever-native ash borers which could also account for such damage. Is OP even in EAB territory?

Now none of this changes the outcome, that being an extremely poor health ash tree. But I've noticed here and elsewhere that many seem to be forgetting-or never knew in the first place-that EAB is not the only serious pest of ash.

+oM

I'm zone 7a.

Thanks for all the insight! I'll have to decide what to do at this point, but unfortunately it looks like they're going to have to come down.

My note about the planter was meant more as a side-note, but, since it was discussed, such planters are a no-no when it comes to trees. In this case, the planters turned out to be very recent ("added last year"), so are very unlikely to have contributed to this tree's problems, however things like this are often an open invitation to pests and disease as they weaken the tree.

As for rot, associated with piling soil and mulch in a deep layer around the trunk, it is more of a relatively short-term thing than a long-term thing. As most trees try to compensate for this and it's less likely to become a new issue as time goes on (assuming more soil and mulch aren't added on top of what is already there).

The only thing I'd add at this point is that removal may not necessarily be warranted. I myself said "extremely poor health" ash tree, but now that I look again, it's not really that bad. A good arborist could easily trim out the dead stuff and you may find that you have a serviceable tree still. Why not give us a photo to look at showing entire crown (canopy) of tree? That would be most helpful.

+oM

More pics. Just to confirm, the original post were pictures of the better of the two trees.

The first pic here shows the lesser tree, which nearly all the branches have died which we cut off, but two branches still have a tad of growth on them. Still needs a few dead ones taken off which will leave it not even looking like a tree anymore.

The second pic shows the same tree (in front) and the second (better) tree behind it. As you can see the 2nd tree still has quite a bit of foliage. In fact, about 30% more than last year so I'm wondering if its still salvageable.

Both trees have new shoots coming from the bottom, but the front tree (the one with the most damage) has a LOT more. We used some nylon string to pull the new shoots towards the trunk on both to uncover the boxes.

I'm thinking the one with the most damage should come down completely, and maybe leave the 2nd. Thoughts?

I would take them both....the sooner you plant a replacement, the sooner you will have a nice tree. My thoughts is while not "dead" right now....it won't be long and unless it's an issue of $$ why prolong the agony?

I don't think EAB has been detected in AL yet. OP should probably have the trees inspected by an expert to determine if in fact EAB is present. If it's EAB, it should be reported to the AL department of agriculture. Here's another way to report:

http://www.eddmaps.org/southeast/

As I said, there are other borers that afflict ash than just EAB. Now, with the benefit of more views, yes, that first one is def. toast. BTW, the presence of lots of new shoots along the trunk and from the base is a sign of trouble as well, the tree attempting to make up for lost foliage in its crown via these new shoots. I'm on the fence as to the need to remove second tree but of course it's your call. Lindac is right that replacement now will speed the time of enjoying new trees, but whatever.

+oM

I have a few maples I've grown from seed that I may plant. How far away from the trees should I plant these babies?

From the poor-health one....as close as you want. From the one that might be around for a while longer, I'd say perhaps thirty feet, although I don't know all the peculiarities of your site, overhead wires, kids sandbox, et al.....so use your judgement accordingly. Trees in forests often grow very close together, so it's not really the tree that needs all that space, but we as the owners of the trees often have our own set of requirements and needs.

+oM

Many ash here have scattered dead branches but look fine otherwise - I have to wonder if this is always automatically borers.

From what I see of the OP's pictures....that's a seriously ill tree.....Borers or whatever...it's a goner.
An ash will have scattered dead branches when for one reason or another, borers, dry season, loss of roots...can't get enough water to maintain the canopy....so it reduces the canopy. No...not always borers.