Holes

Leaves for id

on this pic.. i cant id the bark.. nor a leaf ...

if you ID borer .. time for it to go ...

do you have the only ash left in the area ????

i would not waste money.. trying to save it .. change is good ...

i also wonder what chem you bought .. ???? .. you can not spray this huge plant ... and the amount of systemic would probably be registered in gallons ... what did the hardware professional sell you???

ken

We got this: http://www.lowes.com/pd_163006-24182-701810_0__?productId=3356706&Ntt=tree+insecticide&pl=1&currentURL=%3FNtt%3Dtree%2Binsecticide&facetInfo=

It's a systemic. I wondered if it was enough, too. We used the whole bottle.

I think my neigbor's dead tree was an ash. I'm not sure about others in the area....I haven't paid attention!

This is the whole tree. It doesn't look unhealthy. It was just that we suddenly noticed the holes and started wondering.

The last pic looks "ash" to me.

If you're in Ohio, and a neighbor's tree died that was an Ash, I'd be 99% sure that your tree is next, even if what you saw was not Emerald Ash Borer damage - that I can't say for sure as I've never seen it in person, only the dead trees that result. EAB is all over Ohio now, I think...so avoiding it is pretty tough.

As far as your systemic, I don't know, but I'd be inclined to cut my losses, take out the tree, and get something new growing in it's place ASAP.

I don't think those are emerald ash borer holes, but the fact they're suckering near those holes are ominous. I have seen them and lost a MAGNIFICENT ash to it. (s.e. Ohio) The EAB tunnels shallow galleries of mazes directly under the bark, and effectively just girdle a tree to death. They do not tunnel deeply and you should be able to identify the galleries if you'll peel back the loose bark of one of the affected dead/dying limbs if you can reach one. You'll see a limb here and there going first and in the course of a couple years it's apparent the tree is a goner whilst the wood of the main truck will look totally beautiful when it is felled. Sometimes cavity dwelling birds will start holes like that and change their mind and go elsewhere. I can't tell the girth of your tree from the pic, nor how high up the tree it is located. After I lost my beautiful ash, it became apparent to me that those in my small woodlot are gonna be dead men walking, and I will not release neonicotinoides into the environment on a scale large enough to save wildlings. It would have to be a particularly special tree to even consider it and it really concerns me to see this class of chemical touted to homeowners as a fix for this epidemic.

Hard to say for sure from the photos, but it looks like the tree should have enough life left in it that it could be saved. There's some great info for homeowners at this website: http://www.emeraldashborer.info/homeownerinfo.cfm#sthash.zfiyUTfq.dpbs

One of the useful links on that page is an EAB "decision guide" (see link below)

Here is a link that might be useful: EAB decision guide

Thanks everyone.

Calliope - Yes, that is exactly how it sounds. I did peel away the bark on the dead limb we cut out and didn't see the tunnels, and like you said, the main trunk is totally untouched.

Is that insecticide very dangerous or what is your concern?

I am split on the Imidocbloropid (spelling!) being dangerous.

For us, it is probably ok but I keep my kid and would keep any oets out of the area for a few days after the soil drench.

For bees and butterflies I assume it would be death if I treated a butterfly bush or similar but do bees frequent ash in flower?

Oh yes, I've kept the kids away. It's been a week and I still haven't let them near. I've never noticed bees, but it's not flowering, either.

I'm bothered, too, because our cottonwood also died this year and the neighbor'a pine. There are so many dead trees right around here.

No, it's not a particularly toxic chemical to humans compared to stuff sold on the retail for years. I've used it long before it hit the OTC stage and loved how effective it was for control of insects totally resistant to the other classes available, yet safe enough to be applied as a granule and just watered in. It's just that the active ingredient is now the most commonly used pesticide in the world. I've seen the label expanding since its inception and when you use one class of pesticides on everything, everywhere.........you can expect that sooner, rather than later, it shall become ineffective. It's also a relatively new class of pesticide and I believe with any chemical we learn more about it as it's use over time unfolds. I do believe that is is found to translocate to flowers now more readily than initially thought. I am not saying this should used or not used on any particular tree, just that I don't think any conventional pesticide is going to make that much difference in the spread of pestilence with our ash trees, and some discernment should be used as to which ash are worth the time/expense/and chemical interventions.