Emerald Ash Bore – Treatment vs. Removal

Ash Trees and the Emerald Ash Borer

Ash trees are one of the most popular trees in the United States. They cover millions of acres, but ever since 2002, they’ve been vulnerable to an insect that was accidentally imported from overseas.

If you have ash trees on your property, you’re probably aware of the metallic-looking green beetle known as the emerald ash borer. Emerald ash borers disrupt the tree’s ability to feed itself water and nutrients. These beetles can kill their tree hosts within one to four years, depending on the size of the tree. However, if the infestation is detected early enough, a mature tree (with a circumference of 14 inches or more) stands a good chance of surviving and thriving after being treated.

Signs of an emerald ash bore infestation may include the following, according to the Arbor Day Foundation’s “Tree Health Guide:”

  • Exit holes shaped like a “D”
  • Increased woodpecker activity
  • Leaves at the crown of the tree are thinning/dying
  • Splitting bark
  • The tree is sprouting suckers (young sprouts or new leaves) near its base
  • Tunnels appearing under the bark – these look like wavy lines on the bark of the tree

Your ash tree could fall prey to this insect pest even if you don’t know you have the beetle on your property. Call Liberty Lawn & Landscape to have your tree evaluated for its current health. Liberty Lawn & Landscape will evaluate your tree free of charge.

If you do have the emerald ash bore, you may be wondering: What will happen to my trees? Will they need to be removed? Can they be treated?

Treatment vs. Removal

Once you’ve had Liberty Lawn & Landscape Inc. evaluate the health of your tree, next determine the importance of your ash tree to your landscape. There’s no point in treating a tree that has little or no value to you in the overall landscaping of your property. If the tree is of relatively little value to your property, you’ll probably decide to have it removed rather than treated.

Another considering when you’re thinking about treatment vs. removal is the circumference of the ash tree. You should consider removal if your ash tree is less than 14″ (inches) around. This isn’t an absolute rule, but the recommendation from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is that ash trees with a circumference of less than 14″ be removed rather than treated when infected with the emerald ash borer.

Emerald Ash Borer Treatment with Liberty Lawn & Landscape

Liberty Lawn & Lawnscape Inc. can deal with known or suspected emerald ash borer activity in your ash tree in three stages:

  1.  We come out to your property to evaluate the health and viability of your ash tree or trees.
  2. We measure the circumference of your ash tree(s). Remember, the circumference of the ash tree factors into the decision on whether to treat or remove the tree.
  3. Once you approve our estimate, we treat your ash tree with an insecticide that kills the emerald ash borers.

In the case of the emerald ash borer, the soon the tree is treated, the better its chances of surviving.

Insecticides Used For Emerald Ash Borer Cases

Depending upon the size of the ash tree, Liberty Lawn & Lawnscape Inc. uses one of two insecticides:

#1. Mauget System: This method of targeting the beetles is injected into the tree. It uses capsules filled with Imicide insecticide. This emerald ash bore treatment is most effective when used on smaller trees.

This method is environmentally friendly. In its more than 50 years in business, the J.J. Mauget Company has always been a leader in environmentally-friendly ways of treating trees.

#2 TREEage Arborjet System: This method of targeting the beetle infestation uses an injection using IV pressurized system with Emamectin Benzoate insecticide. It’s most effective when used with larger trees.

Like a hospital IV system used on the human body, the TREEage Arborjet system introduces the insecticide into the tree’s vascular system, which is the tree equivalent of veins and arteries. Rather than using spray insecticides that affect the surrounding plants and soil, this efficient delivery system targets the emerald ash borer pests directly. It kills the beetle’s larvae as well as adult beetles that have already emerged.

If your property has one or more ash trees with signs of emerald ash borer infestation, get in touch with Liberty Lawn & Landscape Inc. You’ll want your tree evaluated for health as soon as possible, and the evaluation is free of charge. If you do have emerald ash borers living in your ash tree, Liberty Lawn & Landscape will provide you with a timely, reasonable estimate for emerald ash bore treatment that will minimize the damage so you can get back to enjoying the view from your property instead of worrying about invasive insects.

What is the Emerald Ash Borer

What is the Emerald Ash Borer

The emerald ash borer, Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire in Latin, is an exotic beetle that originated on the Asia continent. Also referred to as EBA, the beetle was first discovered in United States in the southeastern region of Michigan, in the Detroit area, during the Summer of 2002.

It is speculated that the emerald ash borer found its way into North America on wood packing material, made of ash, carried on airplanes and cargo ships that originated from the beetle’s native Asia.

The adult beetles eat the foliage of ash trees, hence its name, but cause little actual damage to the tree. However, during the beetle’s immature stage, the larvae feed aggressively on the tree’s inner bark and interrupt the ability of the tree to transport water and nutrients. This often results in bark splitting and the tree dying.

Adult beetles typically come from the previous year’s infestations, sometime in May, but can appear earlier if the weather is unseasonably warm. Females will lay their eggs shortly after emergence. Once hatched, larvae will bore into the tree, leaving visible tracks underneath the bark while feeding. Smaller trees may die off within two years of infestation with larger trees dying off within four years.

Since its discovery in Michigan, the emerald ash borer has killed millions of ash trees across North America. As of October 2018, the emerald ash borer has been found in 35 states as well as six Canadian provinces. The has resulted in municipalities, property owners, nurseries and forest industries suffering hundreds of millions of dollars in damages.

The EBA infestation has caused U.S. and Canadian regulatory agencies to mandate quarantines and impose fines to prevent potentially infested ash trees, logs and firewood from being transferred from locations where the beetle is found.

Description
With adult EBA typically being only 1/2-inch long, the emerald ash borer is shorter than the width of a dime. However, on mass the larvae of the bright metallic-green beetle is capable of taking down trees thousands of times its size. The EBA’s eggs are approximately 1/25-inch long and are reddish-brown in color. The immature beetles are white with flat heads and distinct segmented bodies.

The Threat
Ash trees are one of the most abundant and valuable tree species in North America, with the total number of ash trees in the U.S. alone estimated at approximately seven to nine billion.

Source of the Threat
• Infested ash trees.
• Firewood.
• Ash wood products and packing material.
• Ash wood debris, including trimmings and chips.

All of these materials can spread EBA infestation even if the beetles are not visible.

Where the EBA is Found
The emerald ash borer is currently found primarily in the Eastern and Midwestern U.S. and parts of Canada, but is spreading rapidly. The beetle has killed or damaged over 40 million trees in the U.S. States of Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin as well as New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec, Canada.

Nebraska
The EAB has destroyed thousands of ash trees causing millions of dollars in damage in Nebraska alone and tens of millions of dollars in damage across the rest of North America. On June 6, 2016 Nebraska joined its neighboring states of Colorado, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri to find and infestation of the emerald ash borer. This made Nebraska the 27th U.S. State to confirm the presence of the beetle when the Nebraska Department of Agriculture found the EBA during an inspection of Omaha’s Pulaski Park. The agency also found the emerald ash borer in Lincoln and Ashland, Nebraska in August of 2018.

The Nebraska Department of Agriculture has issued a quarantine of the effective areas that prohibits hardwood firewood, ash timber products, mulch, green waste material and ash nursery stock from leaving the quarantine area. If you find the emerald ash borer in Lincoln, or elsewhere in Nebraska, contact the Nebraska Department of Agriculture.

Signs of Infestation
• Thinning or wilted ash-tree crowns, possibly with yellow foliage.
• Increased woodpecker activity.
• D-shaped holes in ash trees.
• Splitting bark.
• Shoots, called “suckers,” originating from the tree’s trunk or roots that will often have above-average sized leaves.
• Tunneling tracks, in the wood, under the bark.

Treatment Options
While there is a chemical emeril ash bore treatment that serves as a control measure, there is no sure-fire cure for the spreading EBA infestation. Due to varying pesticide regulations of each state, landowners should consult their local extension office or state department of agriculture for directions.

It is not recommended that infected ash trees be chemically treated as a preventative measure, unless the trees are located over 15 miles from a confirmed infestation. As trees may only be treated with chemicals a limited number of times, waiting until you are in the quarantine area will maximize the number of times trees can be treated.

Treatment of ash trees to prevent EBA damage is done between March and mid-June. This allows the chemical treatment to be dispersed throughout the tree to most effectively kill the beetle larvae. In addition to chemical treatments, since 2007 three wasp species have been used as a biological control in several states.

Other Things You Can Do
The United States Department of Agriculture offers the following guidelines for managing EBA infestations:

• Inspect your trees and contact your state agricultural agency if you see any signs of ash borer infestation.
• Call the Ash Borer Hotline at 1-866-322-4512 or your local USDA APHIS office if you find an EAB infestation. You can find the contact information for your local offices on the USDA’s website.
• Take pictures of the insects, tree damage and make note of the area where you found the beetles.
• Don’t transport firewood from your property or move it across state lines.
• Buy and burn firewood locally.
• Buy kiln-dried firewood, if possible.
• Avoid ash firewood.
• The best preventative emeril ash bore treatment is to burn any remaining ash firewood supply before the weather warms to eliminate the spreading of EBA to live trees.
• Inform others by talking to neighbors, friends and co-workers about the emerald ash borer and what they should look for.
• Learn the point of origin and the supplier when receiving ash firewood or ash stock from a nursery.
• Learn the local and federal regulations that govern the states you may visit.
• Heed the local quarantine restrictions to avoid transporting infected ash wood or live trees.

What You Need to Know About Emerald Ash Borer Infestations in Nebraska

What You Need to Know About Emerald Ash Borer Infestations in Nebraska

If you have any ash trees on your property, there is a growing threat you need to be aware of. Nebraska is currently in the middle of an infestation that has the potential to destroy millions of trees. Being educated about emerald ash borers can help you take steps to prevent this dangerous invasive species from wreaking havoc on your property.

Emerald Ash Borers: An Overview

Emerald ash borers are an insect native to Asia that first started infesting Michigan back in 2002. These bugs are a type of small insect that is just around 13 millimeters long and only lives about a year in full, but they have caused a lot of damage.

You can identify emerald ash borers because they have a long, narrow body with two bronze-green wings and large black eyes along the head. The adults lay eggs in ash trees that hatch into milky white larvae made up of short, triangular segments. As the larvae grow, they eat the wood of the ash tree and then bore a hole out of the tree to escape once they mature.

Nebraska Confirms Emerald Ash Borer Infestation

When the presence of emerald ash borers was first discovered in the United States back in the early 2000s, the government quickly made moves to quarantine the insects. Sadly, these invasive little pests are hard to spot, and they can be transported around the states through infected ash tree products.

In 2016, emerald ash borers were spotted in Omaha, Nebraska. Since then, they have continued to spread throughout the state. With over 44 million ash trees, Nebraska is particularly vulnerable to emerald ash borers infestations. To try to prevent the spread, the Nebraska Department of Agriculture has quarantined the movement of wood from Douglas, Sarpy, Cass, Washington, and Dodge Counties.

According to the Nebraska Tree Service, anyone within 15 miles of an emerald ash borer infestation needs to exercise caution. This means that everyone in the Lincoln area may need to be worried for the health of their trees. Treating a tree is usually cheaper than cutting it down, but tree owners need to act fast if they want to have time to treat the tree before the infestation worsens. On average, 70 percent of unprotected ash trees are dead within four years of an infestation starting.

How to Tell If You Have Emerald Ash Borers

The best time to treat emerald ash borers is in the early Spring and Summer, so it is important to figure out whether not you have an infestation. Here are a few tips to make things easier.

Identifying Ash Trees

Of course before you can start looking for emerald ash borers, it is helpful to see whether or not you have an ash tree in your yard. Ash trees are a family of medium large trees that sprout whitish flowers in the Spring. They have distinctive smooth or diamond patterned bark in a grey shade and a wide, branching structure. If you have an ash tree, you may notice that the tree branches and leaves grow directly opposite each other instead of alternating along the main branch. Keep in mind that emerald ash borers can threaten any type of ash, including both the deciduous and evergreen versions.

Signs of Emerald Ash Borers

Here are a few signs that one of your ash trees might be infected with borers:

  • Thinning canopies and reduced leaf growth.
  • New growth of branches along the base of the trees.
  • Damaged bark due to woodpeckers trying to eat emerald ash borer larvae.
  • D shaped exit holes in the bark that are usually around ⅛ inches in width.
  • Bark that splits vertically.
  • S-shaped tunnels beneath the bark that are packed with a fine dust.
  • White larvae or green adults on the trees.

Not all ash trees will show signs of an infestation, so even if you do not see any of these symptoms, it is important to get them inspected by a professional arborist if you live in an area with emerald ash borers.

Treatment Options for an Emerald Ash Borer Infestation

When it comes to dealing with emerald ash borers, there are a few different options. The most drastic choice in emeril ash bore treatment is removing the tree altogether. This is usually only recommended if the tree is so irreparably damaged that it is dying and becoming a threat to nearby power lines, homes, or other trees.

A more affordable emeril ash bore treatment that lets you save the trees is chemical insecticides. These treatments should be done between March and mid-June to properly kill the emerald ash bore larvae. Depending on your situation and personal preference, you can pick between insecticides injected into the tree trunk, soaked into the ground around the trunk, or sprayed on the entire tree. These treatments need to be repeated to be as effective as possible, so you will need to remember to apply the treatment every year or two to keep the ash borers from coming back.

If you have ash trees in Lincoln, Nebraska, prompt treatment can save your trees before they die. At Liberty Lawn and Landscape, we have professional licensed state of Nebraska arborists who can evaluate your trees and let you know more about treatment options for your unique situation. Contact us today to schedule your free evaluation.

Emerald Ash Borer


Contact Us for a Free Assessment!

Invasive Species Warning!

Emerald Ash Borer

The symptoms an ash tree shows when it is infested with emerald ash borer are similar to symptoms caused by other ash pests or diseases. For example, crown dieback can occur due to EAB damage, but can also be the result of drought stress, soil compaction or verticillium wilt, just to name a few. This insect is killing our ash trees.

We offer free estimates for tree care and all other services. Click here to request your free estimate today!

Liberty Irrigation

News Release – December 2015

Thank you for your lawn and landscape maintenance service business over the last many years. We appreciate our loyal customers and are always looking for better and the best ways to service your needs!

Over the past 5 years, we have increasingly heard from you, our customers, of your desire for a more accessible and reliable lawn sprinkler service company. I must admit that I have found it challenging to get our customers’ sprinkler system needs handled in a prompt, reasonable, and professional manner. This has been very frustrating for all of us. We were forced to do some sprinkler work for our customers even though we never truly focused on that particular service.

I do not ask much from the vendors I refer to our customers, i.e. irrigation companies, other than to do what they say they are going to do. Over the past 5+ year, I have heard every excuse from my frustrated customers regarding irrigation companies such as not getting returned phone calls, emails, texts, missed appointments, invoicing delays, etc. For those reasons and the fact that I already have Don Holmes, an experienced lawn sprinkler technician, on staff has lead me to make the customer service prompted decision to expand our service division. I am excited to introduce to you:

Liberty Irrigation, Inc. 
111 N 56th Street – Suite #301
Lincoln NE 68504
(office) 402-466-0160
(cellular, Don Holmes) 402-440-7805

This new service we are offering is going to be singularly focused on servicing our customers’ sprinkler system maintenance needs. We will not be doing sprinkler installations, so you will never hear the excuse from us that you will have to wait for service until we are done with a “big project”. I have heard that comment as an excuse way too many times recently, and I’m sure you have as well. Our customers are Liberty Irrigation’s “big project”.

Our sprinkler technician, Don Holmes, has been servicing lawn irrigation systems for over 25 years and is very well known throughout our community and industry as reliable, knowledgeable, prompt and courteous lawn care professional. He is very excited about the opportunity to assist our lawn care customers with your sprinkler system maintenance needs full time.

I will be sending you more information outlining our new service soon.

Thank you again for your business and Merry Christmas!

Healthy Lawns

A lawn’s surface appearance is only as good and healthy as its root system.

Newer lawns need concentrated root management to create a healthy sustainable turf. Treat the soils with root enhancing nutrients such as potassium and phosphorous to promote root growth in early spring and fall. It does not matter how green the grass blades are if the root system is dying.

GRASS

A well-developed root system will lead to a thicker, fuller lawn, so root fertilizers can be very important for grass. The root systems of turf grasses generally grow more vigorously during cooler weather in spring and fall, so Lawn Professionals should apply granulated root growth fertilizers in these months. Lawn care experts recommend fertilizing in April with a solid root growth fertilizer that also contains a weed control product to prepare lawns for summer, then fertilize again in late October with a 13-25-12 fertilizer, which is high in phosphorus, to encourage root growth over the winter. Do not use a product with high nitrogen content fertilizer in the fall. This would only promote diseases such as snow mold and would not promote quality root growth.

POTASSIUM FOR LAWN USE

Of the compounds you can use on your lawn, conventional bagged fertilizers are labeled with numbers, such as 10-10-10 or 5-20-10, indicating the ratio of the three macronutrients, N-P-K, in the mix. You might want one with the last number, which refers to potassium, larger than the others. Potassium helps lawns build the plant proteins that affect the macronutrient content of the plants in the lawn. Ideal amounts of potassium prompt grass to grow and mature faster, help them resist pest infestation and help them grow stronger. Potassium regulates plant growth, increases the sturdiness of deep roots. You can tell if your lawn is deficient in potassium by discovering grass blades, particularly older ones, with brown spots, yellow edges around them and brown or yellow veins.

THE ROLE OF IRON

Lawn grasses most heavily use the macronutrients nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in normal growth and metabolic processes. Of these three primary nutrients, nitrogen is most important to keep a lawn growing fast and thick with an evenly green color. Several micronutrients are also needed in small amounts to maintain good plant growth. The iron molecule is the central atom in all green chlorophyll pigments in plants. Lack of nitrogen can cause new growth to look yellow or white, but a lack of iron prevents plants from even creating new chlorophyll and the lawn becomes pale green or yellow-green. Iron is an important nutrient for chlorophyll production, but iron amendments to soils should only be applied to turf that has a vigorous root system and thick blading.

IRON VS. NITOGEN

While both nitrogen and iron nutrients create green turf, you cannot substitute or eliminate one nutrient and expect the lawn to remain forever green. Iron treatments can mask an unhealthy lawn and be a procurer to lawn diseases. When growing, lawn grasses utilize large amounts of nitrogen to elongate their leaf blades, resulting in an increased need for mowing. If iron is deficient, the lawn can still look pale green or yellowish. Eliminating all nitrogen from lawn soil slows or stops growth, but iron molecules keeps extant grass blades green.

Read more: www.ehow.com/info_8561984_ironite-do-lawns.html

Sirococcus Shoot Blight

In 2012, we saw a huge increase in needle blight on spruce trees. Here is the latest information on spruce tree blight:

Sirococcus shoot blight of spruce causes branch tips to turn brown and needles to drop off leaving infected brach tips bare. One year old growth may also turn reddish brown and cast needles. Small black fruiting bodies can be seen on infected shoots. To manage this disease on young trees, apply chlorothalonil in May, when new shoots are one half to two inches long, and repeat the application 3-4 weeks later.

To Fertilize or Not Fertilize Our Trees

Liberty Lawn & Landscape believes it is important for our customers to be updated on the most current information in the landscaping industry. Here is an article written by an accredited arborist, instructor and educator.

To Fertilize or Not Fertilize Our Trees
by the Plant Health Department @ Terry Hughes Tree Service

In the green industry, there is always that question of whether or not it is a good idea to fertilize. I have heard both sides of the story, and both have valid points. I tend to believe that it is always in the best interest of the plant in the current urban settings to do so.

People will say, “The trees in the forest don’t get any fertilizer.” Well, that is true. The trees in a forest or wooded area don’t need the deep root feeding like they would in a housing development. They have the luxury of natural decomposition. This breakdown of natural material will give the plants in that type of setting the minerals and nutrients that they need over a period of time. The problem with the urban setting where our plants and trees are put in the ground is that they lack that decomposition of plant material. Everyone rakes and bags their leaves and grass. Therefore, there is nothing being put back into the soil. Not to mention that the land developers come in and change the grade of the land and only leave the bare clay soil. This is not the best type of surrounding for a newly planted tree as we all know.

That being said, we as arborists should be fertilizing our trees and shrubs to give that plant what it is so lacking in this clay soil we are surrounded by. This brings up another benefit to deep root fertilization by breaking up these compacted clay soil conditions. In doing so, this will also allow air to get to the root system enhancing the vigor of the plant. The main objective in deep root fertilization is the healthy establishment of the plant’s root system.

Spring Start Up

It’s about that time again!

We will be starting our first round of lawn treatments in late March. Please, have your yard cleaned up prior to this time. If you need assistance, please, contact us.

This spring, we will be using two applications of Pentamethalin for our pre-emergent. This product has been proven to be the best for preventing crabgrass and foxtail in Nebraska. Several seasons ago, we changed our broadleaf weed control product to Q4, which gives us extra control for crabgrass, ground ivy, nut sedge and spurge. We always offer the highest quality products and services available.

We will use Merit grub control exclusively again in 2013 to give longer control against these and most other insects feeding on the turf. Grub worm has been a serious problem in Nebraska for a few years, but our “Merit” control works great in nullifying this pest along with sod webworm and cutworm.

Our program will control broad leaf weeds and most insects, and provide enough nutrients for the turf throughout the long growing season without promoting excess growth.

The weather forecast for this year is hot again, but wetter. This forecast, if true, will help keep us reasonable water bills.

I am hoping gasoline prices remain somewhat reasonable throughout 2013. Unlike other companies, we have never charged a gasoline surcharge and hope to never have to do so in the future.

Check out our website at www.LibertyLawn.biz. It is full of useful information on many subjects. The site will help us provide even greater service to our prized possessions – you, our customers.

Please, contact us if you require help starting or repairing your sprinkler system.

In the event you will not require our services for the upcoming year, please send written notification to the office. If we do not receive a cancellation request, we will continue our services as usual.

Thank you for your business.

See you soon!
Doug McIntosh
Owner