# Borers in Young Golden Rey Elm: What to Do?



## aufhebung (Apr 11, 2012)

I have a Golden Rey variety of Lacebark Elm in my yard that was planted by a nursery about a year ago (it is maybe 12 feet tall). I called the nursery within a month or two of planting because I was concerned that the tips of quite a few of the branches (the last foot or so) were losing all of their leaves. A nursery employee came by to take a look at the tree and said that it looked normal and the loss of leaves was due to the extreme heat. I watered the elm religiously with a tree gator every other day during the summer as he suggested. Now that the tree has wintered over and greened up again, the tips of the branches still have no leaves and I recently noticed oval holes behind the bark along the trunk. The elm hasn't really grown any in a year, either. The nursery sent out another guy who diagnosed my problem as "borers." They injected Bayer insecticide into the ground around the tree and said that should fix the problem. My concern is that everything I have read about elm borers suggests the tree is unlikely to recover and will probably die a slow death. If it were your tree, would you proceed with the insecticide treatments, or would you request that the tree be replaced? It is still under warranty but I need to make a decision soon. I appreciate your help!


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## aufhebung (Apr 12, 2012)

*Pictures*

Here are some photos, which may or may not be helpful:

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## ATH (Apr 12, 2012)

Depending on what the "borers" are, imidacloprid could very well take care of them.

Borers are usually associated with slow death because they are stepping into a process that is already in motion - rarely are they the primary stressor causing the downward spiral. One stressor could be transplant shock, add drought stress on top of that, and you have a tree suseptible to borer attack.

I'd talk with the nursery:
"It looks to me like this tree is not going to make it, and I am thinking I should get it replaced now. I am open to giving the treatment time to work, but I don't want to look at it again in 12-18 months and regret giving it a second shot and finding myself out of warranty options. Would you give me something in writing acknowledging that this tree is in trouble now so if it is dead next year, we can still replace it? If you are not willing to do that, I'll just take my replacement now."


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