Emerald Ash Borer Treatment

What is Emerald Ash Borer?

The Emerald Ash Borer (also known by the acronym EAB) is a beetle that feeds on ash species of trees. Although the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) is native to Asia, this invasive species has intruded the ecosystems of North America. EAB has devastated many regions in the US, including Minnesota. Since 2009, 25 million Ash trees have already been affected by EAB and an estimated 10.7 billion dollars in economic cost has accrued as a result.

How does Emerald Ash Borer affect your Trees?

The key to understanding how the EAB affects your trees is to have a little insight into the beetle's behavior. Emerald Ash Borer eggs are carefully laid onto the crevices and cracks in the bark of an Ash tree. These eggs later hatch and the larvae that emerge begin wreaking havoc. They start chewing through the bark into the tree's phloem and xylem, where they continue feeding and developing. What are the phloem and xylem? They are critical internal structures of a tree that allow the transport of water and minerals inside the tree (similar to your veins and arteries in your body). Any damage to these structures is incredibly harmful to the tree's health. If enough of these structures are damaged the tree will eventually wither and die. Therefore, the Emerald Ash Borer works similarly to a parasite that is slowly destroying your trees and the value of your property.

Why do you need Emerald Ash Borer tree treatment?

An Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) infestation in your yard will unlikely be contained to a single ash tree. In most cases, the infestation will spread to surrounding ash trees in a very short amount of time. If left untreated, the end result will be thousands of dollars in tree and yard damage. Additionally, there are also severe climate effects. The destruction of ash trees by EAB releases the same amount of carbon each year as 4.4 million cars by releasing stored carbon deposits.

Our Emerald Ash Borer Treatment Services

Birch Tree Care is ready to be of service in the event of an Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) infestation. Birch Tree Care offers three Emerald Ash Borer treatment options. The best type of treatment will be dependent on the level of infestation our team would conclude upon inspection. Additionally, these treatments are applicable to all ash trees. These include black ash, green ash and white ash trees. Here is a brief description of these Emerald Ash Borer treatments.

Soil Injection

Also known as Imidacloprid, this method drenches the surrounding soil with systemic insecticides. By doing so, it infects and removes the EAB. After mixing this insecticide with water, the solution is then poured directly onto the soil around the base of the trunk of the affected tree. What is the result? The solution is absorbed by the tree roots which then spread the insecticide solution throughout the tree, thus ensuring that the EAB is removed.

Without professional help, employing this method can result in the solution binding to surface layers of organic matter and ultimately reducing the absorption by the tree. 

Trunk Injection

Another popular method in the St. Paul and Minneapolis areas is to inject the insecticide solution directly into the trunk of the ash tree. This is done by directly drilling through the bark of the ash tree and into the sapwood. 

This method is popular on sites where soil treatments may be unavailable. Such environments include wet, sandy, compacted, concrete, and soil landscapes. This is a diverse treatment option that can be applied to a number of different and challenging environments. 

Avoid implementing this method without professional support. This method has a high margin of error. Drilling into the tree without the proper care or training can cause long-term damage or wounds that may cost you more to fix in the future.

Remove & Replace

Treating your tree is an option, but for some it may not make financial sense to do so. Infestations may take up to three years to appear with larger trees. In that time, EAB will likely have destroyed too much of the tree's inside structures. Therefore, it could be too late to save it with soil or trunk injections. Thus, the remove and replace option becomes your only remaining option. We recommend hiring a tree professional for this method, as removing the tree is only one problem.

The other problem is what you replace the infested tree with. Your local city has regulations regarding which tree species can be planted. These regulations help protect the surrounding forests and ecosystems. Birch Tree Care can assist you in choosing a diverse range of plants that you love and that your local city approves.  

Hiring a professional for this treatment option is suggested in order to mitigate risk and costs.

Our treatments aim to achieve the following.

• If possible, save the ash trees presently rooted in your yard.

• Clear and remove the infestation from your yard and prevent further spread.

• If need be, remove ash trees that are severely damaged and have them replaced with suitable plant species.

• Protect the value of your property.

• Help you avoid potentially expensive solutions in the future by tackling the problem early.

Contact us to discuss a custom treatment plan for Emerald Ash Borer.

Identifying Emerald Ash Borer

Worried about your yard being infested with EAB? Here are some ways to identify the Emerald Ash Borer and signs of infestation.

You can identify an Emerald Ash Borer by looking for the following physical characteristics: 

• Its body has a metallic green color 

• Has a narrow, bullet-shaped body

• Is about 0.5 inches long

• Has an iridescent back and bean-shaped black eyes.

Signs of eab infestation

First of all, you need to identify if your yard contains ash trees which are the type of trees EAB's feed on.

To identify an ash tree, look for the following characteristics:

1. Inspect the branches of the tree. Do the branches grow directly across from one another?

2. Next, inspect the formation of the leaves. Do you see a group of individual leaves connected to a stalk which is then joined to a woody stem (also called compound leaves)?

3. Finally, inspect the number of leaves and the texture of the edges. Does a stalk have five or more leaves connected? Also, do the leaves have smooth or finely-toothed edges (also called margins)?

If your answer is yes to all these characteristics, then you indeed have an ash tree. Visit the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources website for more details about what specific species of ash tree you have.

Now that you have identified your ash tree, it's time to inspect the tree for signs of an Emerald Ash Borer infestation.

1. Approach the tree and look upwards into the crown. Can you spot a loss of green color in the uppermost leaves? Can you also spot that there are fewer leaves than there should be (this is known as thinning or dieback of the crown)?

2. Walk around the trunk of the tree and carefully inspect the following:

   • Is there stripping of bark or puncture holes in the trunk? These are the signs of woodpeckers pecking into the wood to feed on the EAB larvae.

   • Do you see sprouts growing from the roots, trunk or branches of the tree?

   • Do you see splits in the bark of the trunk?

   • Can you identify D-Shaped holes in the trunk? These are exit holes made by the EAB.

   • Do you notice S-shaped zig zags in the bark of the tree? These are known as galleries and are the signs of the EAB larvae burrowing into the trunk.

If you have inspected your ash Tree and have spotted these signs then you may be dealing with an EAB infestation. Call us today to confirm your diagnosis and act now to save your trees.

Areas We offer Emerald Ash Borer Treatment

Birch Tree Care offers Emerald Ash Borer treatment services in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Our arborists have been providing disease treatment services to homeowners and commercial property managers and have close to a decade of experience.

Call us at 651.504.0533 if you need help to accurately diagnose EAB on your property and devise a custom treatment plan.

Why Choose Birch Tree Care

At Birch Tree Care, we’ll help your ash trees thrive and flourish. Our team of technicians and arborists care deeply about your trees. We have a deep knowledge of the science and the best practices to treat Emerald Ash Borer infestations. We will work tirelessly to make sure your trees are in optimal health and that any EAB infestation is cleared effectively.

Our team is professional from head to toe as we are fully insured and licensed to work in your yard. Contact us and ask our staff how our experts can keep your yard free from Emerald Ash Borer.

Emerald Ash Borer FAQs