Need advice on Ash trees

[Tom Rossman]

The Emerald Ash Borer is destroying all of the Ash trees in the Midwest. I have two 40" diameter trees that will cost me about $400 a piece every couple of years to try to protect, or I could have them cut down and turned into lumber and firewood. If I try the latter, not too many saw mills can handle trees of that diameter and there are restrictions on moving Ash. Besides, with all the Ash trees being cut down won't the price of the lumber collapse? Suggestions?

[Scott Vigder]

A decent mill should be able to handle that size. My neighbor felled a similar size ash and we've used the wood for various projects.

[Lee Schierer]

Unless you desperately need the wood I think I would try to save them. Trees that old take a long time to grow. You might find that your state has a register for large trees and you might qualify for assistance in preserving them.

I know the ash borer kills the trees eventually, but does it make the wood unuseable?

[Richard Ray]

What, how, would you be doing to try and protect them? I've got a couple that I would easily pay $400 a year to keep from dying, but so far I haven't heard of any way to save them?

[Quinn McCarthy]

Are you located in an area that has been infected with EAB? Or are you hearing about the horror stories from infected areas. One of the biggest lessons we learned from DED was that the beatle that carried the DED fungus was on the feet of the beetles which were under the bark of the tree. The first plan of atack with DED was to cut the tree down and use it for firewood. THe DED was being tranfered across the eastern US at a rapid pace and nobody was able to figure out why it was happening. Once they figured it out tranport of elm firewood was stopped. Of course it was too late. Now they are trying to do is stop it beforer it is too late for the ash tree. Like any of the tree epidemics there are always some trees resistant to the disease. These trees need to be cultivated to produce resistant ash trees. It is up to you what you want to do with the trees. If it means more to you looking pretty in the yard then keep them until they die off. Otherwise cut them down now. If you don't cut them down there is a ash tree seed bank I think in CO that will be taking ash tree seeds.

Hope that helps.

Quinn

Forester by day Wood worker by night.

[Tom Rossman]

When the borer kills the tree, the wood is fine as it only destroys the layer right under the bark, which is why the tree dies. The lumber is not hurt, but most locations have restrictions on transporting Ash.

If someone wants to try to save a special tree, contact a certified arborist. They can inject an insecticide into the tree that will kill the borer. They going rate is about $10 per inch of diameter of the tree. This is usually done in April or May depending upon where you are located.

There are a few different insecticides used, and some can be used by homeowners on small trees, but only a professional can treat the large trees, and there is not a 100% guarantee that they can be saved.

[Scott T Smith]

The Emerald Ash Borer is destroying all of the Ash trees in the Midwest. I have two 40" diameter trees that will cost me about $400 a piece every couple of years to try to protect, or I could have them cut down and turned into lumber and firewood. If I try the latter, not too many saw mills can handle trees of that diameter and there are restrictions on moving Ash. Besides, with all the Ash trees being cut down won't the price of the lumber collapse? Suggestions?


Tom, if you do decide to have those trees milled a swingblade type mill can handle logs that size with ease. The most common swingblade brands are Peterson, Lucas and Mobile Dimension.

If you contact the manufactureres they can put you in touch with millers in your area that have their products.

For most bandmills, 30" logs are the upper limit, and even those really put a strain on the equipment.

Ash is usually flatsawn; it can have some beautiful cathedral grain.

[Ben Martin]

This is where I purchase a large amount of my lumber, they always have ash in stock due to the EAB, they get it from all around Chicago so there must not be restrictions here.

http://horiganufp.com/

I live in a new neighbor and would easily pay $400 a year for the shade and since of peace an older tree would provide...

[Tom Rossman]

All - Thanks for your replies.

The Ash Borer is active in Central Kentucky. It is within 20 miles of me, so it is as good as here. The Commonwealth has imposed tight restrictions on transporting Ash firewood, but at best it is a holding action.

One theory is that if you continue to treat your trees over a long period of time, the Borer will kill all of the non treated trees and die out. Then the threat is over and you can stop treating the trees. To me it sounds like a sales pitch from the pesticide suppliers. I'd really like to save the trees but $800 every two years forever is a lot of money.

[Walt Stevens]

I have two large ash trees, and I'm using Bayer Advanced Solutions (http://www.bayeradvanced.com/article/emerald-ash-borer.html) to treat mine. It's the recommended treatment in my area (Maryland). I have active borers within 30 miles. So far so good.

[Ryan Baker]

Once it's infected (which it probably already is), it's pretty much too late. It doesn't start showing the signs until well after the 'too late' point. If you want to save them, hurry up with the treatment and watch for signs of deterioration over the next year. Takes about two years to really kill the tree.

If you have the option of salvaging the wood, consider yourself lucky. The EAB only causes damage right under the bark -- most of the wood is fine. However, many local governments still order the destruction of the wood. In my area, they took down all the ash trees and chipped them. There was no way to get to keep any of the wood. I didn't get a single scrap out of my big ash tree. It's a terrible waste of the wood for no good reason. Plus, since all the ash has been destroyed, there is NOT the expected surplus around. In fact, it's actually rather hard to locate ash around here, unless you find someone with ash on private property that is outside the grasp of the local bureaucrats. They aren't replacing them with other trees either (no money), so there are few trees left. It was mostly all ash and sycamore here. The ash are gone. The sycamore are sick with their own problems and are dying off fast.

[Steve Kohn]

I have two large ash trees, and I'm using Bayer Advanced Solutions (http://www.bayeradvanced.com/article/emerald-ash-borer.html) to treat mine. It's the recommended treatment in my area (Maryland). I have active borers within 30 miles. So far so good.


I live in Illinois also within a quarantine are for the ash borer. In fact my neighbor across the street just lost his 12 inch ash. I have 2 ash trees in my yard. One is 24 and the other is 30 inches. I have been treating both trees with the Bayer systemic insecticide for the last 4 years. I had a certified arborist inspect the trees this fall and he said there was no sign of the ash borer.

[John Morrison60]

I hope that as many of these trees get saved as is possible.

The borer came through S.E. Michigan several years ago before there was any preventative treatment.

I lost 3 large trees, my neighbor lost 14 trees, some 30-40 inches dia.
My brother in law cut down more than 50 trees, that we got milled and dried. I have been using this for all by General purpose wood.
I really like working with it.

It won't be long until the only ash trees in North America will be the ones given the preventive drugs.

Thanks to all of you that save your ash trees.
John

[brian barnum]

Cut them down and mill them. I work at Michigan State University and see the entomologists on a regular basis, there is rely no cure I have seen trees people have spent money on treatment and they are all dead. The campus arborists have thrown in the towel also. In Michigan that little bug has devastated the ash trees, unlike Dutch elm there are no survivors and the tree loss happens very quickly.

[Dick Strauss]

Tom,
There is ash galore around here for sale. The milled price is still in the $1.50-2.00/bf range. I'm sure the price will drop some but there are basic costs of milling and KDing that keep the lumber from becoming too much cheaper.

Brian might know the answer better than I do since I'm just passing along what I've read and have no real expertise in this area. According to the Michigan St University info, there is a good chance to save your tree if treated early. The recommended treatment is 1oz per inch of tree circumference of Bayer Advanced Tree and Shrub Insecticide with the active ingredient imidacloprid. This product can be found for about $0.60/oz or less, so one of your 40" diameter trees (125" circumference) would be $75 if you treat them yourself. The trees have to be treated every year, not every two! http://www.emeraldashborer.info/files/E2955.pdf

Since the EAB only attacks the outer layer of the tree, they can be milled. The bark/outermost wood must be removed and chipped in the sawing process. Only the finished lumber can be moved outside the county. While these rules hold true here, they may be different in your area until federal laws supercede local laws. Please check with the appropriate local authorities to find out what is allowed in your area!