Drive down any Chicago street and you’ll see the effects of the Emerald Ash Borer. Entire streets of parkway trees are now dead, a terrible sight to behold in the middle of summer. As we eagerly wait for those first signs of fall, Ash trees provide the beautiful purple, then burgundy, then yellow transformation. To lose them all, and all at once, would greatly affect many communities. In some cases, it already has.

Recently, the Ash trees in nearby Horner Park received an inoculation against the devastating Emerald Ash Borer (EAB). I spoke with the team of experts treating the trees and discovered that although 35,000 trees have been inoculated by the city so far, the trees in Horner Park were the first ones in a Chicago park to be treated. These Ash trees appear to be in relatively good shape even though they are already affected by EAB. Hopefully, with the inoculation, some of them can be saved.

If you or your neighbors have an Ash tree, call an arborist and have them come out for an evaluation. It’s worth the investment to try and save your tree. Find out more about EAB.

Reprinted from MODE Landscape Design Vol 14: Fall Watering Guidelines, October 2013

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