Dead Ash Trees

kenny thomas · Mar 21, 2022

I started this to get the topic away from the fire posts.
Farmerjan, the Emerald Ash Borer was first discovered in the US in Michigan in 2002. It was first found in Virginia near Cumberland Gap in Western Lee Co in 2008. I live 15 miles east of there and it took 2 years to start showing signs of it being here. They fly from tree to tree but use the wind to help. Within 4-5 years it exploded in population and was pretty much everywhere in Virginia.
The blue ash were not harmed and I'm not sure anyone knows why. I don't. But the blue ash are not very common either.
At this time it seems any new ash that sprout or are planted are affected. As with anything else once the food was gone the numbers crashed.
Several things are being tried to control the bug including treating the Ash tree. It's feasible to treat a single tree in a yard, although expensive, but not a forest of trees.
Some think that mother nature will eventually control part of it and the trees will come back. But at this time it's all still in the bugs favor.

sim.-ang.king · Mar 21, 2022

Here in IL, and I'm sure elsewhere, they have been collecting seeds from any ash trees that are still alive, and freezing them. They figure we will just have cut down or let the beetles kill all that ash, to get them to leave. Then start over.
The good white ash seems the most affected, and there are still some living green ash.

cfpinz · Mar 22, 2022

It's a shame, as ash trees provide good shade and are really clean trees - not putting off a bunch of mess in one's yard. Pretty much all of the ash are dead here, and the power company contractors are laying them down and leaving them left and right. I've got enough log length ash laying by the wood pile to fuel my outdoor furnace for 2 or 3 years at this point, as most of the neighbors don't want to fool with the power company drops and give them to me to haul off.

Ebenezer · Mar 22, 2022

I had as many of the ash trees cut and sold for logs a few years ago as I could get off of the whole farm. Some were 5' at the stump. It seemed like a rash idea at the time but it worked out.