Anyone with ash trees on their property should be on the look out for emerald ash borer infestation. The beetle known as the emerald ash borer has been devastating ash trees across the country since 2008, according to officials. It has been reported that detection is easy but emerald ash borer treatment is more difficult.
In order to assist with emerald ash borer control, residents are advised to follow a few treatment guidelines. First, it is best to know that if one tree on a street is infested, more will also be infested. Ash borer control should be enacted as quickly as possible to prevent the beetles from spreading across the entire town or city as it has in the past. Ash borer control can be provided using a pesticide that is injected into the tree every couple of years.
Many people may wish to just cut down the tree. Though this is effective ash borer control, it may prove more harmful for the household as less shade means higher energy costs and no trees mean increased chances of flooded streets. Basically, cutting down the tree is just as costly as treatment, and does nothing to save the actual tree. Ash borer control pesticide injections can be injected every two years by professionals and may keep a tree alive for up to 20 years.
Symptoms of infestation include, d shaped holes in the trunk and branches where the beetles exited the larva feeding area, wilting leaves, thinning canopy, shoots at the dead part of the tree and holes created by woodpeckers which feed on the larvae. Though many people believe infestation is not treatable, the earlier it is detected the easier it is to save the tree. Ash borer control has been developed since the infestations began in 2002, and have since been used to save thousands of trees.