If your tree has emerald ash borers you need to get it treated soon. An emerald ash borer is a type of beetle that feeds on ash trees. The females lay their eggs under the bark. The egg larvae feed on the bark and then become adults in a couple of years. Emerald ash borer can kill young trees quickly as well as trees that are not in good condition. It can also kill healthy trees over time. Fortunately, there are emerald ash borer treatment options available so you can save your tree.
Treat the Tree Yourself
In some cases, you can treat your tree yourself if the tree is not heavily infested. If you notice only a few emerald ash borers and your tree is not showing any signs of distress, there is an insecticide you can purchase specifically made to kill the emerald ash borer. This insecticide can also help control this problem.
You do need to be careful as it can be difficult for someone to determine how many emerald ash borers are on the tree. Some signs of an infestation are severe die-back on the canopy and upper branches, cracks in the bark, and bark flecking on branches. Woodpeckers like to eat the emerald ash borer so if you see these birds on the tree, this is another sign.
You can find both liquid and granular insecticides. It is applied to the soil around the base of the ash tree. You should treat the tree with the insecticide once a year in the spring before the tree starts to bud as well. The insecticide that you purchase will come with complete instructions on how to apply it.
Hire a Tree Service
If you see that your tree is already damaged from the emerald ash borer, you should hire a tree service to take care of this for you. They have stronger insecticides that they can use to kill the emerald ash borer.
The tree service may prune the trees to remove damaged branches to help prevent the emerald ash borer from spreading. In most cases, the contractor injects the insecticide into the tree trunk and the soil. They evenly inject the insecticide throughout the tree, especially in the canopy area. These injections kill the larvae under the bark which prevents them from becoming adults and causing damage.
The tree service contractor will likely come back to your property and inspect the tree. If they see the tree is still not growing well and has even more damage, they may suggest that you cut it down. This will prevent the problem from spreading to other ash trees in your yard. If they do this, all branches will be removed and destroyed.
The tree service company that you hire can go over this information with you in much more detail.
After thinking about how to keep some of the flowers in my yard alive, it occurred to me that we had some real problems on our hands. For starters, we had a bunch of overgrown trees that needed to be dealt with. The second thing we had to take care of was the fact that we were really behind on basic yard care. I started talking with friends and neighbors about what they did to make things better, and they recommended a local tree service company. After they came out and made some changes, my yard was gorgeous. Learn more about tree care on my blog.