Denny's Soapbox

I continue to receive emails and phone calls from homeowners concerned about the progress of the Emerald Ash Borer (E.A.B). One homeowner stated that he owned ¾ of an acre in eastern Hamilton County with hundreds of ash trees on the property. He wanted to know if they were all going to die over the next three years. This homeowner is not alone with his concerns about the effects of the E.A.B. There are many, many homeowners with the same fear. This fear has been compounded in some cases by so-called local media gardening experts. These “so called experts” have used their propaganda merely to gain more gardening credibility for themselves.

Please, everyone, just relax and have another cup of coffee. Southern Michigan and Northern Ohio’s Ash trees were devastated primarily because the bug experts originally weren’t sure what they were dealing with or how to best handle the situation. This caused them to be reactive rather than proactive. Now that everyone has had more time to study the bugs, there is more up to date information available. Michigan State and Ohio State Universities along with the University of Kentucky’s bug scientists have been working with several products which have shown promise of success in the treatment of the E.A.B.

While it is true that the E.A.B. will attack healthy ash trees, the fact remains that their first attraction is to ash trees already suffering from some form of tree stress. Many trees of all varieties are suffering tree stress due to wet springs and very dry summers. The fact that the E.A.B. will work on the weak ash trees first will buy us all more time for the experts to come up with a solution to destroy the E.A.B. In the mean time, the best thing to do is keep all your trees healthy by properly watering during hot dry periods and fertilize them semi-annually.

We’ve been here before with certain insects and I am old enough to remember another foreign beetle that came to this country. I’m talking about the Japanese Beetle which is now considered more of a nuisance insect than a threat, especially in the adult beetle stage. We were told this particular insect was also going to be devastating to many of our trees and shrubs, defoliating them and causing life threatening harm. These same insects were also supposed to destroy our lawns while in the juvenile stage of their life cycle. The Japanese Beetle in it’s juvenile stage of the their life cycle is known as “The Grub Worm”. There are many products out that effectively eliminate these beetles.

Gypsy Moth is another tree defoliator. Just 10 years ago they threatened the health and vigor of all trees growing in Northeast Ohio. This insect soon started moving southwest. Thanks to the Ohio Department of Agriculture’s timely application of a natural pesticide, along with detrimental environmental conditions, the gypsy moth’s threat has been greatly reduced.

You will continue to hear and read about the doom of the ash tree. I just ask all of you to be patient and only put faith in what’s being reported by our true experts, the state extension services. All other hype should be filed under “let’s just wait and see”.