[leadarrows]

Just in case you haven't heard.

The emerald ash borer has invaded Carmel. “Thousands of ash trees in Carmel and surrounding towns could die in coming years as the larvae of an Asian beetle munch their way through the area, state Department of Natural Resources officials said Friday.”

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dl...601210439/1006

You need to identify which of your clients might be affected and educate them that they may lose there Ash trees. This way you won’t inadvertently be blamed and you will be who they think of when it’s time for them to come down. Even if you’re not comfortable with doing the work yourself now is the time to set up a deal with an arborist and either sub out the work or position yourself to make some referral profits. It’s sad to see these trees go but go they will so here’s your heads up..

Fixed link.

[jazzylee77]

What is Indiana's strategy for managing this pest? (I suppose I should go read that article link...) Ohio has been very aggressive at fighting it. The basic strategy here is when an affected tree is discovered, authorities are notified; it is cut down and destroyed in a specified manner. Then the same is done for every ash tree within a certain distance ( a mile I believe). This eliminates most vectoring. Last year a infested tree was discovered at a rest area 30 miles north of me. Likely the bugs hitched a ride...maybe with firewood. There are additional rules about moving ash trees or firewood from Michigan and quarantined areas in Indiana and Ohio. Our threat level is yellow.

[Mark Oomkes]

Unfortunately, the Michigan Dept of Ag is burying their heads in the sand (or someplace else if you will) on this. The cutting down of ash trees within a certain distance of the infected tree has not worked. Some of their initial research or guesses on how much this insect moves have been wrong, they just don't want to admit it.

I hate to sound like a naysayer, but I don't believe that there is any true containment for this pest, it is only a matter of control.

If a customer has a tree they would like to save or prevent from becoming infested, there are several treatments that Michigan State has been using with tree and landscape companies in SE MI that have saved infected trees and prevented them from becoming infected.

On a somewhat related note, our local Ag office has been investigating many dying\declining ash trees that have been dying for reasons they can not explain. My guess is that these trees may not be as hardy as once thought or that they are just not long-lived trees like maples or oaks and they are just at their life's end.

[jazzylee77]

Thanks for the bad news!

The quandary created in Ohio with systemic preventative treatments. Even if your ash tree is healthy and has been treated to prevent borers, if ash borers move into your area, that tree will be cut down and destroyed anyway! Being an overly honest guy, I have to tell my customers about that...tends to put a damper on treatments.

[Mark Oomkes]

A guy on the east side of the state filed a lawsuit and won, preventing the Dept of Ag from doing that on his island. He said he was going to treat them and that was as effective or more so than clear cutting. So there may be hope if they want to go that route.

[VoodooChile]

Aren't there large nursery operations in Western Ohio, North-Eastern Indiana and South-Eastern Michigan that are being impacted heavily, 'Autumn Purple' Ash being a staple of the industry?

And wasn't this pest discovered after it was well-established in the region, leading to speculation that some infected trees had already been shipped to surrounding states?

Last I heard of Emerald Ash Borer, which hasn't been sighted in Wisconsin yet...there wasn't any treatment but aggressive eradication. So there has been some good news, if infected trees have been saved.

[VoodooChile]

To answer my 2nd question...yup!

Officials believe the Carmel infestation is at least 7 years old, meaning it began before anyone in the United States knew the beetle existed, said Jodie Ellis, a Purdue University insect expert.

The linked article goes on to claim:

Once a tree is infested, there is no way to save it...DNR Director Kyle Hupfer warned residents to be on the lookout for scam artists who may offer to treat their trees with pesticides, which he said don't work.
"Nothing protects ash trees," he said. "But fertilizer and water can help keep them strong."

Not true nothing protects them?

[Stonehenge]

From what I recall in an article a couple years ago, the problem started (sort of) in Michigan. There's a tank manufacturer in Warren or Sterling Heights that got some steel shipped in from Russia. The steel was packed in wood chips that contained....you guessed it....Emerald Ash Borer. It was awhile before anyone realized what happened, so It's not a surprise that Michigan was relatively slow to react - byt the time anyone figured out what was going on, a lot of damage had already been done.

I think Voodoo is right, that trees were being shipped outside of Michigan before they knew of the problem.

I had forgotten about this problem - thanks for bringing it back to the forefront.

[Mark Oomkes]

Somebody might want to get that Ag director in touch with Dr. Dave Roberts from MSU. I'm really not sure why there was\is such a pissing match going on between the Dept of Ag and everybody else. They are just being totally close minded about the situtation. Not sure if MGIA publishes their magazine online, but there have been numerous articles about EAB in there and controlling it.

BTW, Dr. Roberts is the one who finally identified EAB.

At first they were calling it 'Ash decline' in the SE part of MI, around Detroit. They had no idea what was causing the problems, until 5 years later when Dr. Roberts discovered and identified the borer. So you can imagine how many ash trees had been shipped out of the area from nurseries before they discovered what was causing it. Then the quarantine came. One of my employees was at a seminar this winter where they were discussing EAB. Dr. Roberts was the speaker and he said if he had a choice, this would have been the last insect that would have survived the trip over because it is quite fragile and only feeds on ash trees. So if it can survive the trip over, I highly doubt that cutting a swath around the quarantined area was really going to work. They were also just guessing that a 1/2 mile from the infected tree was good, because supposedly it only travels approx 200 yds on its own. Never mind the wind.

It was found about 3 miles from our office at a Home Cheapo that had the ash trees purchased from a nuresery in SE MI. Same thing in Maryland. Some infestations may be from transported firewood, but I doubt it. I think they completely underestimated the severity and hardiness of the insect, just like they completely closed off their options of how to control it.

What is really unfortunate is that most landscapers, LA's and many municipalities still have not learned their lessons about planting numerous species and genus of trees and plants to prevent these kinds of problems. A city by us requires Austrian pines as screens to be used on property lines of commercial landscapes--never mind diplodia tip blight.

Just blows my mind that they even will spec or require or willingly install trees or shrubs that are just about guaranteed to require constant applications of pesticides. Unless the customer demands it, I will not install this type of tree. I will educate them on the long-term costs and the unnecessary use of pesticides when there are viable alternatives when they request that type of plant.

[Mark Oomkes]

Here's some info from the CAT Alert from MSU.

Emerald ash borer
New test results from a timing study shows that imidacloprid can be used as basal soil drench from mid-October to mid-November, or from mid-April to early June. Any of those times worked well to protect small ash trees from EAB during the season after the drench, but the best results came from the early June application time. The timing is the same for soil injection around the base of ash trees. Imidacloprid trunk injections have worked well any time from late May to mid-July. Onyx, Tempo or Astro sprays have been effective when applied twice: in early and late June.

The imidacloprid drenches have worked best on small trees, but recent test results also look promising for larger trees if drenches are started when the trees are healthy and after two years of drenching (results have not been good on large trees after one year). Results for all of the treatments listed above are best when they are started before ash trees are compromised from borer attack and when trees are kept healthy with adequate water and fertility.

[Russ]

Originally posted by Mark Oomkes
Somebody might want to get that Ag director in touch with Dr. Dave Roberts from MSU. I'm really not sure why there was\is such a pissing match going on between the Dept of Ag and everybody else. They are just being totally close minded about the situtation. Not sure if MGIA publishes their magazine online, but there have been numerous articles about EAB in there and controlling it.
What is really unfortunate is that most landscapers, LA's and many municipalities still have not learned their lessons about planting numerous species and genus of trees and plants to prevent these kinds of problems. A city by us requires Austrian pines as screens to be used on property lines of commercial landscapes--never mind diplodia tip blight.

Just blows my mind that they even will spec or require or willingly install trees or shrubs that are just about guaranteed to require constant applications of pesticides. Unless the customer demands it, I will not install this type of tree. I will educate them on the long-term costs and the unnecessary use of pesticides when there are viable alternatives when they request that type of plant.

I could not agree more!!!!