EMERALD ASH BORER (EAB)

Ash Strategies and Economics: A Must-Read for Homeowners

Bachman’s now carries a product called Xytect, a chemical treatment that homeowners can apply and the manufacturer claims to be very effective. The cost is $49.95 for the bottle that treats one very large tree (about 20 inch diameter), or two smaller trees, etc. Thankfully, we can fight the borer...however, please read on!

Chemical treatment is one of our weapons in this battle, but some real thought needs to go into the economics of the situation.  Let’s assume your yard has two ash trees and you can treat the two for $50 per year.  That means you put this on your calendar and faithfully do this fairly simple treatment task each year.  If the chemical works as promised and you don’t miss a year you will spend $500 over the next 10 years and avoid the cost of removing dead ash trees.  This is a pretty good plan, one that many homeowners should be pursuing.

Another thing to consider is should you keep the ash trees?  A big, healthy ash in just the right spot is a tree to keep, one to chemically treat.  An unhealthy ash, or one with poor branching, or one in the wrong spot in the yard, may be one to get rid of to allow planting of a different tree variety.  Removal of healthy trees seems extreme, but the economics of a small ash tree (like a 12’ tree) points pretty strongly to removing and replanting.  The cost to treat for the next ten years is about the same as the cost of a new 12’ tree of a different variety.  Removing healthy trees is probably beyond most people’s acceptance, however many cities will be pursuing this very strategy due to the economics.

Perhaps the best advice right now is to plant some different varieties of trees.  Seeing the devastation in areas like Detroit should be our warning, we should be treating and planting during this short period of time as this thing is revving up.  If we do not take action now we accept that we will simply lose about one third of our trees, watch our yards become very sunny, and start all over on that shade canopy we so take for granted.

Finally, the first thing every homeowner should do is to learn to identify ash.  Then they should take a walk around their neighborhood and imagine what it will look like and feel like without ash trees.  They should pick out one tree and consider the strategy for that single tree: should it be treated, left to the likelihood of dying in the next ten years, or should it be removed now and replaced?  They should look for open places where a new tree might be planted now.  Once a person begins doing this it becomes hard not doing it, you really start seeing the problem and the strategies that are the solution. We need to be doing it, lots of people doing it right now, for the good of our neighborhoods!

Emerald Ash Borer and Xytect FAQ
Xytect Application Guide

Identifying Ash Trees

We have many varieties of ash in the Twin Cities and emerald ash borer can affect all of them. Ash leaves are "opposite, pinnately compound," and the number of leaflets can vary.

Emerald Ash Borer

For details about emerald ash borer check out the Minnesota Department of Agriculture website.

What to do?

Arborists can chemically treat ash trees not yet affected by emerald ash borer, however they cannot guarantee survival and re-treatment is generally recommended every two years.  The expense of this approach seems like the strategy to use for very high value trees. At Bachman's we believe that the best way to guarantee big trees for our future is to plant a variety of trees. 

The following are just some of the shade trees we'd suggest:

	Hackberry Celtis occidentalis A fast growing native tree with unique gray, corky bark and yellow fall color, a wide, broad and rounded tree; matures to 50-75' tall and 50' wide.
	Autumn Gold Ginkgo Ginkgo biloba 'Autumn Gold' A true 150 million year old relic with the most uniquely fan-shaped leaves; stunning pyramidal form and consistent golden fall color, does not produce fruit; a distinct improvement on the species, a great choice for home landscape use.
	Greenspire Linden Tilia cordata 'Greenspire' A pyramidal tree, great for narrow sites, fragrant, tiny, yellow flowers in June and yellow fall color; matures to 40-50' tall and 30' wide.
	Northwood Maple Acer rubrum 'Northwood' A selection of red maple from northern Minnesota, oval shaped tree that is generally seedless with beautiful red-orange fall color; matures to 50' tall and 30' wide.
	Autumn Blaze Maple Acer X freemanii 'Jeffersred' A red and silver maple hybrid that combines the rapid growth of silver maple with the bright fall color of red maple; matures to 50-60' tall and 40' wide.
	Swamp White Oak Quercus bicolor A fast growing native oak, resistant to oak wilt and yellow fall color; matures to 50-60' tall and 45' wide.
	Espresso Kentucky Coffeetree Gymnocladus dioicus 'Espresso' A native tree with deeply furrowed, gray-brown bark and large compound leaves, an open, spreading tree with thick branches, this cultivar does not set fruit, matures to 50-60' tall and 45' wide.
	Fall Fiesta Sugar Maple Acer saccgaryn 'Bailsta' A sugar maple with an upright, rounded crown and beautiful red-orange fall color; matures to 50-75' tall and 50' wide.

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