(800) 853-2651
SHOP NOW

A genuine pandemic...

D

Dave H (MI)

Well-known Member
Relax...it ain't what you think. This topic comes up from time to time and I was out for a walk and took some pictures for those who don't know about it and have not experienced it yet. The Emerald Ash Borer (EAB). A guy just asked about this last week in fact. I bought this woodlot 9 years ago. It was already infested and the biggest ash were already dead. So here is what an ash borer does to a tree. The bark is separated from the tree.


cvphoto8630.jpg


Under the bark you see these telltale lines. These are the pathways of borers as they fed under the bark. The bug is long gone.


cvphoto8631.jpg


I will put up a few pics of what the woodlot looks like today in a different thread. I have not been able to keep up with the falling trees.
 
One more pic...what the woodlot looks like today. Keeping up with these falling trees has been more than I can do on 20 acres of woods plus all the fence lines.


cvphoto8648.jpg


The leaner tree you see in the background is a common thing. They have shallow roots and they lean over into other trees. I have also seen bigger trees literally shatter midway up. Must be something to be near it when it goes. Anyway, it gets asked a lot and I have a lot of Ash trees so I thought I would share.
 
Sorry about your trees. That may be a great place to find Morel Mushrooms. Unless they are too far gone already. Morels love a dying ( not dead as a door nail ) Ash or Elm tree.
 
Pretty much every ash tree around here is dead. I've been cutting them for fire wood but I'm never going to get them all before they rot. Some of them already have ants and the wood peckers are going crazy on them. It reminds me of the dutch elm disease of the 60's. Some beautiful large trees died then too.
 

cvphoto8652.jpg


Now the good news is...if you look at the picture and see all those skinny sticks. Those are Ash trees. Thousands of Ash trees. The borer does not kill the tree. It kills the tops. The roots send up suckers, they grow to about 10-12 ft tall and then down they come. But the tree does not give up. Nature has a way of leveling the playing field, and while the EAB takes advantage of our Ash trees somewhere there is another creature who will learn to take advantage of the EAB. Meanwhile, life goes on for the Ash trees. Just not as towering and lovely as they once were (yet), but still around. There is a lesson somewhere in all that, but my train of thought has jumped the tracks. I'll let you figure it out. :)
 
Kinda like the frog in the bucket. He does not give up, he just treads water until somebody comes by and rescues him.
 
Same thing happened 35-40 years ago with the Dutch Elm disease. Looked like worm wood under the bark. Lost about 50 Elms and the Conservation District said to plant Green Ash. Planted 100 Green Ash and now will lose them. Guess I won't live long enough to see the next batch grow up....
 
We have lost every ash tree on both farms....over 100 trees....except the mountain ash....yet. We have a mixed Bush with some very nice tall cherry tree filling in.

Ben
 
Ohio held out for a while against the borers but they got here too. What first saw was what looked like rubbed off bark, the orange colored underbark. Then noticed the woodpeckers on them, two hits and a flick of the head and a chunk of bark flying off. Four or five days and the whole tree was stripped. Easy to find the D-shaped holes in the underbark but they're hard to find with the bark on. Another year or two before the bark falls off like your pictures.
 
Northern Ky. My woods look like a bomb was dropped. I spend my days dragging logs out to the hay fields and cutting them up for firewood. I haul firewood to a couple of friends. I think in about two more years all the Ash trees will be down in this area. I am also losing cherry trees to insects. Ellis
 
We used to be the elm capitol of the world. Whether actual or not we were at least in the running. That ended in the 1980s..... the elm all looked like that, dead and the bark stuffs off.

Guess what was planted to replace them.....

Maple or ash.

Well, now the ash borer is entering the state.

Sigh.

Paul
 
We have 70 acres or so of woods ,50 to 60 percent ash . Don't have a lot of deadfalls yet but over the last couple years pretty much all are affected . Burned all ash in the woodstove last couple years .
 
I have been burning mostly Ash trees for the past three years. Really don?t have much bush, perimeter fence lines held the Ash trees. Kinda sad to see them go, and it changes the shape of the landscape and the horizon.
 
Careful if out walking today SV, the edge of the Earth ends abruptly once you reach the outer edge of the circumference ....
 
I'm surprised there are any Ash left in MI. Part of my job with the city was tree removal. The bore was killing Ash trees in SE MI 6 to 8 years before I retired, and I've been retired for 8 years. Just shows how tough those trees actually are.
 
I think its sort of the same as the way people view economics.Neighbor loses his job its a recession,I lose my job its a depression,wife loses her job its a panic.
 
Newspaper ran an article about a source for Elm trees.

https://www.libertytreesociety.org/replacement.html
 
And meanwhile, in the Pacific Northwest, where we never had elm trees and the ash trees are still healthy, our white fir trees are dying from some bark borer called the engraver. Seems like there are pandemics everywhere!
 
I'm sure there were a few folks who early-on heard of the Emerald As Borer, but seeing as it hadnt yet hit any woodlots around them, they didn't consider it a real threat either...
 
When The EAB first was supposedly around the pictures they were showing of the damage were exactly the same dammage as we were seeing 40 years earlier. So when it was the same dammage we were seeing 40 years earlier what do you think people thought about it
 
Ya got me on that one Leroy, what DID people think about it?

Actually, I find your reply hard to follow but anyways, back to my question above ....
 
I planted some Ash seedlings 30 years ago as nursery stock to landscape my yard. They were getting 3-4 inches in diameter when hit with the borer. I left them standing for a couple of years and finally went out and cut them down but the stumps were still alive. Surprisingly, "suckers" had sprouted off the sides of several of the stumps and were growing. Last I saw them was in 2013. I will try to check them out this year.
 
We lost 2 huge Elms in the late 50's to the disease. They were on the road ditch bank west of the house and with power lines between them and the house. Dad had to pressure the township and county to take them down as they were in the road/ditch right-of-way. The road was closed and both were dropped across the (gravel) road.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Ellis Kinney
ash trees
Replies
11
Views
1K
Russ from MN
R
N
Ash trees and sad times
2
Replies
27
Views
2K
farmerjohn
F
B
Need help. Possum ate my wiring
2
Replies
30
Views
3K
Fixingfarmer
Fixingfarmer
Ultradog MN
Driving tractors as a kid
2 3
Replies
41
Views
3K
chucksoliver77
C
S
Loading a Haybine on a trailer - how?
2
Replies
33
Views
2K
Tx Jim
Tx Jim
Tractor Parts Tractor Manuals

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Copyright © 1997-2024 Yesterday's Tractor Co.

All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of any part of this website, including design and content, without written permission is strictly prohibited. Trade Marks and Trade Names contained and used in this Website are those of others, and are used in this Website in a descriptive sense to refer to the products of others. Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy TRADEMARK DISCLAIMER: Tradenames and Trademarks referred to within Yesterday's Tractor Co. products and within the Yesterday's Tractor Co. websites are the property of their respective trademark holders. None of these trademark holders are affiliated with Yesterday's Tractor Co., our products, or our website nor are we sponsored by them. John Deere and its logos are the registered trademarks of the John Deere Corporation. Agco, Agco Allis, White, Massey Ferguson and their logos are the registered trademarks of AGCO Corporation. Case, Case-IH, Farmall, International Harvester, New Holland and their logos are registered trademarks of CNH Global N.V.

Yesterday's Tractors - Antique Tractor Headquarters
Website Accessibility Policy

Back
Top