EAB reaches Wisconsin

[treevet]

Airplane treatment is not going to ever work on an under the bark feeder Glenn. Take a cold weather locale like Wisc., add the quarantine meant to help but not help the area where it is in effect, add the exponential increase of the infestation and movement of eab laden firewood only permitted initially in that location and what you get is a disaster of uncontrollable proportions. Only those that can afford to pay an ever increasing rent/treatment cost for their prized ash will enjoy that shade but the pleasure will wear off quickly and progressively with the burden of payments (that also increase with tree growth).

We've got it real bad but the word from Dan Herms is it is gonna get much much worse.

 

[glennschumann]

EAB found in Waukesha County and Port Washington

The reports seem to be rolling in now... This is the county where I grew up, and a few miles from where my parents still live. (They have very few ash, but lots of red oaks and the blight to go along with them)

Emerald ash borer hits Waukesha County - JSOnline

Thanks to TreeVet for the reminder that airplane treatments would not work.

Maybe we could have unmanned drones fire Tree-age missles at Ash trees in infected areas. We start a multiplayer gaming website so all the gamers out there are our labor to "man" the drones, Google Maps provides infected area locations, and marks each tree that is innoculated, and the government would supply drones to us with the understanding that they are just being used for a war on "little green bugs" (making citizens happy to see them), but they contain all the listening / surveilence equipment that the government wants. Like an old time arcade, players pay 25 cents to play (funding ArboristSite.com) and they can play 'till they miss an Ash tree or aim at a passing politician's motorcade. A little flag sticks in the tree advertising Tree-age (or competitor) and the chemical companies pay for the naming rights of each flag (our revenue). Everybody wins, right? : )

Schumann

 

[glennschumann]

EAB found in Janesville and Bong Recreational area in Kenosha County

The local infestations are revealing themselves at a rapid pace now...

This article also has information on how funding for treatment is changing...

Ash borer spreading rapidly while funds to fight pest dry up - JSOnline

 

[bepperb]

EAB in WI

The article is kinda misleading when it states the "money to fight EAB is drying up" because actually the money wasn't used to fight it, it was to detect it. And that was IMO a failure since the purple EAB detectors aren't where the reports are coming in. Recently one was found on a windshield and another by a gardener. If anything the money should be spent on public education on how to ID and who to call and forget the ineffective traps.

With the exception of the predatory wasps no money has fought anything. I'm blown away the state doesn't have a program for this. Our Waukesha County extension office website has nothing on EAB or who to contact locally for questions or anything. I would think an effective extension office could have a list of arborists who treat trees, information on the available treatments a homeowner can try, at least a link to an article somewhere else about it. This is a public problem that really needs government leadership but our DNR isn't at all effective on this. The only people spending money are local governments trying to save street trees.

It's about 10 miles from my house now, will be an interesting three or four years.

 

[treevet]

If it is 10 miles from your house you should already be treating. A good local ISA Certified Arborist (one that has experience and works on trees daily) will be able to tell you when it is IN your n'borhood. Hope this is helpful. PM me if you'd like with any questions. Or just ask me on here.

http://www.emeraldashborer.info/files/multistate_eab_insecticide_fact_sheet.pdf

 

[glennschumann]

Confirmed in more locations in Kenosha County

The latest discoveries...

Emerald ash borer in two new spots in Kenosha County - JSOnline

 

[ATH]

If it is 10 miles from your house you should already be treating. A good local ISA Certified Arborist (one that has experience and works on trees daily) will be able to tell you when it is IN your n'borhood....

I don't need to be local...I can tell you that if there is a known infestation 10 miles away, I'll bet it IS in your neighborhood now. You need to make a decision whether to treat or not: are the trees "worth" keeping anyhow? Will you miss them, or are there other trees in your landscape to fill in the void? How much will treatment cost (plan on doing it perpetually)? How much would removal cost, etc... If you decide to treat, I agree with treevet, you need to treat ASAP - but don't put tree-age into a drought stressed tree as label warns of phytotoxicity. If you want to go that route, hold off until fall for treatment. If you are hiring the work done, make sure you know what they are treating with and what rates they are using...that can make a big difference in efficacy and price. I'd also add that if you decide to have them removed, I'd probably do that now as well for 2 reasons: (1) dead ash are a pain to clean up and (2) you can get something else going sooner than later.

treevet, what part of Ohio are you in? I am in NW...any 'first time' calls to treat the ash are too late in this area. A couple of new clients talked me into treating last year despite my best efforts to convince them it was too late. Those trees did not fare will at leaf-out this spring.

 

[treevet]

I don't need to be local...I can tell you that if there is a known infestation 10 miles away, I'll bet it IS in your neighborhood now. You need to make a decision whether to treat or not: are the trees "worth" keeping anyhow? Will you miss them, or are there other trees in your landscape to fill in the void? How much will treatment cost (plan on doing it perpetually)? How much would removal cost, etc... If you decide to treat, I agree with treevet, you need to treat ASAP - but don't put tree-age into a drought stressed tree as label warns of phytotoxicity. If you want to go that route, hold off until fall for treatment. If you are hiring the work done, make sure you know what they are treating with and what rates they are using...that can make a big difference in efficacy and price. I'd also add that if you decide to have them removed, I'd probably do that now as well for 2 reasons: (1) dead ash are a pain to clean up and (2) you can get something else going sooner than later.

treevet, what part of Ohio are you in? I am in NW...any 'first time' calls to treat the ash are too late in this area. A couple of new clients talked me into treating last year despite my best efforts to convince them it was too late. Those trees did not fare will at leaf-out this spring.

I am in sw ohio ATH, remember? We're buried in the ####e. New word from researchers...used to be 40 percent canopy degradation by eab and still treat...now changed to max 20 percent canopy degradation to where you can still treat. Interesting news on the phytotoxicity in drought of Treeage...not as if I'd use it anyways.

I am treating procrastinators and news ignorers with Mauget Bidrin Injecticide B (fast mover but don't use at beginning of season as insufficient residual) and having people water before during and after treatment and have seen what appears many trees standing pat in infestation areas. Follow the label. If unsure contact local rep on the website.

 

[R2D]

Just south of Kenosha and I will say this, the EAB is devastating! Even the trees that are being treated don't look to good. Most find it cheaper to remove rather than treat. This beetle seems to be unstoppable

 

[treevet]

Yeah my village in opposition to our ufb went total treatment with soil drench a few years ago and were the toast of the town esp. one individual new arborist who got citizen of the year from all the bleeding heart liberals round here. Saved even very small dia. ash.

Easy to do when little or no Green Menace in the hood.

Many treatment failures and they have gone to the macro expensive Treeage on large ash.

Trying to get the costs of these treatments from them but they seem reluctant to give it.

Think they had a couple of hundred trees treated with Safari/Dino for free with the (loss leader?) Valent Legacy Program...but I can't imagine they will treat these trees for free on an indefinite basis.

 

[R2D]

Yeah my village in opposition to our ufb went total treatment with soil drench a few years ago and were the toast of the town esp. one individual new arborist who got citizen of the year from all the bleeding heart liberals round here. Saved even very small dia. ash.

Easy to do when little or no Green Menace in the hood.

Many treatment failures and they have gone to the macro expensive Treeage on large ash.

Trying to get the costs of these treatments from them but they seem reluctant to give it.

Think they had a couple of hundred trees treated with Safari/Dino for free with the (loss leader?) Valent Legacy Program...but I can't imagine they will treat these trees for free on an indefinite basis.

Indefinitely is the key word there. I know a residence that is spending big $$$ trying to save two large ones. I will ask them what they are paying. Some states that can now prepare better for this EAB and will hopefully have better results.

 

[treevet]

Indefinitely is the key word there. I know a residence that is spending big $$$ trying to save two large ones. I will ask them what they are paying. Some states that can now prepare better for this EAB and will hopefully have better results.

If it is a "large" ash and my company is treating it (and we treated many of them) it is gonna cost you from $300. to $350 per year to treat. These HO's haven't flinched at the cost to relative importance of these trees to them either.

Have bid competitively with TreeAge on numerous jobs and have found their treatment is approx. 2times the cost for 2 times the residual (more than 2x the injection wound too!). They are talking a 3rd year of efficacy but do not think it is being marketed. I found some 2 year EmBen treated ash into the 3rd year untreated with some D holes this spring (homeowner's statement on last treatment).

 

[bepperb]

Soil Drench

I'm the "EAB is ten miles from my home" guy, or at least one of many. I only have one tree I plan to treat, it's a Black Ash about 8" DBH that's not horribly valuable but it is in my front yard. To be blunt it's not a 3000 dollar tree so I'm not willing to pay an arborist to come treat it every year or two for the next decade. I plan on being in this house for 20+ years and the huge total cost with no guarantee of success isn't assuring. My plan will be to use an Imidacloprid soil drench on it because of price but also it's something I can do myself.

My street is named "White Ash court" which is kinda funny since there are a ton of native Black Walnuts that I assume somebody thought were Ash and named the street. That or they bulldozed some down to lay the asphalt. Either way because of the name a few people have planted some in their yards but at most they are 12 years old and none are very large. I'd assume if someone gets a 300 dollar estimate for two years of treatment they'd just replace a 4" DBH tree. But maybe we can try the low cost treatment and see where things go.

I do know the soil drench isn't really effective until the second year and I missed the opportunity this spring but it was 40+ miles in May, 10 miles in June. I'll probably treat in fall when the drought ends and again in spring and hope for the best.

 

[ATH]

bepperb,
find a source for bulk generic imidacloprid - it is probably 1/5 the cost of the Bayer stuff you can buy at Lowe's or Walmart. It has a long shelf life, so you can keep if for several years. You may be able to get it from a local farm co-op. Even the name brand Merit will be a lot cheaper in bulk than the retail stuff. I like the 2F formulation, because it is easy to measure out small quantities. Then consider treating fall and spring every year until the "main wave" on infestation has passed. If you only treat once per year, definately use the higest labeled dose. If you treat twice per year, I'd still consider the highest dose, but you may go down to 75-85% of that max. When you treat, pull the mulch/turf away from the trunk of the tree to expose the root flare a little and make a little trench. Slowly pour the mix in 1-2 gallons of water in the trench - I usually make 2-3 trips around the tree letting it soak in slowly.

I would point out that this is a long-term venture to treat an easily replaced tree...but I understand that you want to treat because of the street name. If not for that name, one other option that I have proposed to some clients is to plant a new tree now then only treat the ash until the replacement tree is big enough.

 

[ATH]

I am in sw ohio ATH, remember?....

New word from researchers...used to be 40 percent canopy degradation by eab and still treat...now changed to max 20 percent canopy degradation to where you can still treat...

Interesting news on the phytotoxicity in drought of Treeage...not as if I'd use it anyways.
.....

I thought you were down that way, but not sure how close to the heart of the infestation of that area you were - sounds like you are probably seeing it just as bad as we are. How close are you to the ALB problem?

re: 40% canopy decline...yeah, I doubted that when I heard it. The problem is that you can still keep the tree alive, but it gets a little worse every year, or at best it does not grow enough new branches to make up for the loss.

re phytotoxicity: I guess the label technically doesn't use the word "phytotoxicity"...just says treating during drought stress can "may result in injury to tree tissue". Either way, don't do it.

 

[glennschumann]

EAB in the City of Milwaukee

City of Milwaukee Mayor Barrett had a press conference at the site on the NW side where EAB was found.

They're here!

Emerald ash borer found in City of Milwaukee - JSOnline

Does anybody know specifically where this is? I'd be interested in seeing the debarked trees / galleries in person.

 

[glennschumann]

EAB located in more areas of Walworth county (Lake Geneva area)

A few more confirmed sightings of the bug have been publicized today, both in trees and traps.

State reports new emerald ash borer sightings in Walworth County - JSOnline

 

[glennschumann]

EAB found in WI across the Mississippi from an infestation in MN

Emerald ash borer hits Trempealeau County - JSOnline

 

[glennschumann]

Madison Wisconsin is making plans for EAB...

Madison prepares for 'inevitable' emerald ash borer invasion

 

[tooold]

We have a local garden center saying on the radio that their bayer drench product WILL SAVE trees. For a tree you can barely get your arms around, with 70% eab damage, their product will save it. It only costs $20 a year too! The way they were talking on the radio, they sounded like they were peddling snake oil.