Photo: Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources – Forestry Archive, Bugwood.org

We have been warning our customers for several years that a new insect is coming to Connecticut. The Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) is here and confirmed in 15 towns in Fairfield, New Haven, Litchfield and Hartford counties. This insect will kill all untreated ash trees in our state; it is that devastating. So far the Emerald Ash Borer has killed nearly 100 million ash trees in the northeast U.S. and Canada.

The arrival of invasive pests is not a new experience. Hemlock wooly adelgid arrived in 1985. Even gypsy moth caterpillars were an introduced pest. As the world’s economy grows the sharing of insects will continue. This is the current reality.

We should be able to maintain individual ash trees just as we do with residential hemlocks. Proper annual treatments to ash trees will be effective in controlling EAB. The two main methods for controlling EAB are bark sprays and soil injections of specialized pesticides. Both methods are effective, safe and easy to implement. Let us know if you have an ash which you value and want to keep.

For excellent, detailed info from the Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (DEEP) click here.

Photo: Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources – Forestry Archive, Bugwood.org

Photo: Howard Russell, Michigan State University, Bugwood.org