Call to Action for my Nashville neighbors, Spring of 2020
The die-off of ash trees due to the emerald ash borer (insect) is happening this year (2020) in Nashville neighborhoods, but it is not too late to take action to save the ash trees in your yard if you choose to. I’d like to share with neighbors what I learned from talking with an agricultural extension agent about this, as it has helped me decide what to do.
- Time is running out, only a few months left for Nashville trees: Trees not under treatment by end of 2020 will most likely be too damaged by this year’s infestation to survive (but check with a tree company to confirm that about your ash tree).
- Options for treatment: Most of the tree care companies I called offer treatment with the insecticide imadacloprid, which must be repeated annually. Protecting the two ash trees in my yard (one 22-inch diameter, one 8-inch diameter) with imadocloprid would cost me about $170 each year. A few companies offer treatment with Emamectin benzoate; this is more expensive for a treatment ($270 for my two trees) but only needs to be repeated every 2 years, and some sources say only every 3 years (I’ll decide in 2022, when more data is in, whether to redo treatment or wait until 2023). Regardless of which treatment is used: because no method is yet known for eradicating or reducing the spread of the insect the treatments will need to continue until such a method is found, or until the insect clears out of our area.
- Treatment versus removal of the dead tree Homeowners will be doing one or the other for their ash trees over the next few years so there are costs either way, unfortunately. One argument for paying for treatment of mature ash trees (rather than paying for removal after they become diseased) is the value that mature trees add to our property.
(Photo is from a helpful fact sheet published by Purdue University http://www.emeraldashborer.info/documents/Multistate_EAB_Insecticide_Fact_Sheet.pdf )