If you have ash trees in your yard and know that emerald ash borer (EAB) is an issue in the area where you live, you can take preventative steps to protect your trees against this horrible and invasive disease.
Know What Trees to Protect
First, you need to evaluate your trees so that you know if they are worth protecting. If a tree has a good branch structure, the bark is intact, and it has a full canopy, it is worth investing in to protect. If the tree doesn't have a full canopy, has a damaged trunk, and has a poor branch structure, it may not be worth investing in protecting. Protecting your trees will be both a time and monetary investment, so you only want to invest in healthy trees and have a good long-term chance of survival anyway.
Know When to Treat the Trees
Second, it is important to know when to treat your trees. The best time to treat your trees is usually during the mid-spring. You want to treat your trees each year before they have a chance of being infected. You will want to schedule to have your trees treated sometime in mid-April through the end of May.
You need the ground to be thawed; you can't treat your trees when the ground around them is still frozen, so if you get a late spring freeze, you will want to hold off on treating your trees.
Know-How to Treat Your Trees
You are going to want to treat your trees with insecticide. A beetle spreads emerald ash borer, so you will work to kill the beetle and make your trees an unwelcome host for them. The appropriate insecticide is going to need to be drenched around the base of the tree. You will want to let the insecticide go around the entire root base of the tree, not just right around the trunk. You will want to make sure it encounters the soil, which means removing any mulch around the tree and landscaping fabric so the treatment can come in contact with the soil. It needs to be drenching wet so that you will use lots of insecticides.
For larger trees, you will want to use a special application that will go around the tree and on the tree itself. This is going to need to be applied each year, so you need to be dedicated to the long-term success of the trees you choose to protect on your property.
Call up your local tree service and let them know that you have ash trees on your property and that you want to take steps to protect your ash trees. They can help you start emerald ash borer treatment, using the suggestions above so that you can protect your ash trees from damage.
Share10 February 2021
Elm, ash, walnut, maple, apple — these are all gorgeous trees, but they all have their own preferences in terms of care. Maple trees, for example, need to be pruned later in the season once their sap has begun flowing. Elm trees should be pruned in winter when insects aren't around in order to protect them from the emerald ash borer. A good tree care company will treat each of your trees as individuals, customizing care to their own specific needs. Still, it's important that you, as the tree owner, understand those needs, too. Read the articles on your website, and you'll soon have a pretty good grasps on the basics of tree care.