The emerald ash borer has been the bane of homeowners in the Upper Midwest, Great Lakes, and now Eastern Rockies regions. The borer has spread quickly, and because it's so difficult to spot early signs of an infested tree, it's been hard to stop or slow that spread. However, there are treatments that you can use for the healthy trees in your yard to save them from nearby emerald ash borer infestations. And, these treatments can have a good effect on trees that appear to be mildly infested, where the trees have retained most of their canopies. For new homeowners who have only heard of the ash borer through news stories, actually protecting the trees in the yard is a new experience. You can get help from a tree service if you don't feel up to the task yourself.
You Can Proactively Treat Trees
You don't have to wait for a tree to be infested, and in fact, you shouldn't. Treatment to protect a tree against the emerald ash borer does come at a cost, but these treatments can last for a couple of years or more, depending on what you use. It is especially vital to treat healthy trees immediately if you find one of the trees in your yard or a neighbor's yard has become infested. While some treatments are available to homeowners to use themselves, if you're new to this, you need to call a tree service to ensure the treatment is applied correctly.
Not All Trees Should Be Treated
Healthy trees should be treated. If you have a sickly tree or one that just refuses to do well for whatever reason, you might not want to treat that tree. When a tree is not healthy and obviously not absorbing nutrients as it should, it might not absorb the treatment for the emerald ash borer. That would be wasted time and money. Yes, that does leave the tree open to infestation. However, by treating the healthy trees around it, you can prevent the spread of the pest to the rest of your trees. You might also want to look into tree removal if you have a number of sickly trees that don't respond to good care.
Be Prepared to Remove Declining Trees
And the idea of removing sickly trees is no joke. If they become infested with the emerald ash borer, they're going to look worse and worse, and the trees will eventually die within a few years. Tree removal can be expensive, so it's not something you undertake lightly. But if the tree is at great risk to begin with, discuss removing the sickly trees with the tree service that administers the emerald ash borer treatment.
Homeowners do not need to fear that they can't save their trees from the scourge that is the emerald ash borer, but they do need to be vigilant. Contact a tree service to get an initial treatment and to have sickly trees evaluated.
For more information on emerald ash borer treatment, contact a professional near you.
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