Cold winter slow down the ash borer?

[trailrider]

I've lost several nice trees to the ash borer over the last few years. I was wondering how the harsh winter will affect the beetle. Was it cold enough to kill them off? I hope so!

 

[snapping turtle]

Since we are not in the northern extreme of the range I doubt it. Slow them maybe.

If the area is already infested I would be planting replacements and making firewood piles. Fortville Indiana is infected. No signs at my ash trees yet. The state forester came out and basically said plant replacement trees now. To expensive to treat them. Infestation within 3 miles of the house only a matter of time.

 

[trailrider]

So far for some reason they seem to be limited to a creek bottom and my pasture. Havent noticed infestation in the woods but i guess it's just a matter of time! Ain't much that I can do about it is there?

 

[mohrpork]

Has anyone seen them attacking any other species of trees? I have been loosing a lot of poplars that are among the ash that we have lost.

 

[45fan]

I have a lone ash tree in my back yard that as of yet has been unaffected by the beetle. Most of the trees in our neighboring woods have been infested, thinking perhaps it is just so far away from the other trees that they havent found it yet. IDK, but I have been keeping a close eye on it, because if it goes, it would probably do some serious damage to the house.

I seriously doubt the cold winter we had will kill them off, but one can only hope. Ash arent my favorite trees, but still something to keep the diversity of the forests. Probably will have slowed the plight down, but I am sure it isnt the last we will see of the beetles.

 

[snapping turtle]

Contact the state forestry service. If they are already on property most likely they are in the woods also. Maybe just not seeing evidence yet. Minnesota is infested so is the lower mitten of Michigan so I don't think the cold winter will do much.

The forester I spoke with did not seem to be real positive for a good outcome on the ash borer problem. Compared it to chestnut blight which was not good for American chestnut trees at all. Maybe that was just one opinion not the consensus of the department.

i noticed the purple colored traps around The far north east side on Indy at the lakes 3 years ago. Fortville area 2 years ago. Mooresville and martinsville 3 years ago along with Plainfield area to terre haute before that. I take it the purple colored traps look for infestation and would not be markers that they have found them. Then again with a small state budget the traps most likely mean there was evidence of them in the surrounding area and they were tracking movement.

On my land they suggested pin oak and swamp oak/shaggy bark replacements and some weird tree with Kentucky coffee and maples. Ash is a nice size tree but since I like animals I ordered swamp oak for the wet areas and white/pin/pig oak and horse chestnuts/shaggy bark for the areas I do mow often. The first tree I lost was by the ditch.

 

[The Keymaster]

I have read 2 different articles on this just this week. The opinion of the experts is the hard winter will not have a significant impact in reducing the numbers of ash borers. The insects seek refuge under the bark (which is an excellent insulator, and stay beneath the snow line which keeps the extreme temperatures fro reaching them.

 

[45 x 11]

Yep, sorry to say it but the harsh winter really isn't going to even put much of a dent in them. What we will probably see eventually, is ash trees which get to around ten inches and then succumb - so there will be a kind of stabilizing of populations, and ash trees won't die off completely but merchantable sized ones will pretty much be gone. It isn't just one type of ash either. Black, green, white, and blue all die from it.

Bear in mind that just because you don't see the infestation yet, it doesn't mean your tree(s) isn't already infested. You will tend to see die off at the top which will work its way down and then you will see the exit holes on the bole where the beetles leave. They essentially girdle the tree from the inside out.

The purple traps are just an effort to track the movement/spread of the ash borer.

Someone above also mentioned tulip poplars. The poplars are dying because of drought stress for several extended periods over the last few years. Additionally, a mild winter a couple years ago before the drought helped an aphid called tulip scale which was devastating. Depending on what part of the atate you reside in, you may have seen a heavy amount of a slightly sticky liquid coming down from the poplars and then collecting on the ground, roads, etc. In Brown, Morgan, Monroe, and parts of Gibson countiy, the poplar mortality rate has been very high, and most all of the ones not killed killed still show severe adverse effects (not just theses counties, those are just the ones I happened to be working in and seeing the worst issues).

 

[trailrider]

I noticed a few years ago someone placed one of the purple markers off the road where I noticed the infestation. Sucks. Didn't make the connection between northern infestation and resistability to extreme cold. I horsecamp at brown co quite a bit and have dilligently observed campfire restrictions although they don't enforce it at the campground.

 

[Zoub]

About a month ago I read a good article about the rise and fall of the population up here in WI and the impact of what is basically the coldest winter ever on record here. Just realize it was a lot colder here and sustained cold for 5 months with no warm ups at all. Overall less has to be better just sad we even have them.

 

[Leadeye]

A number of ash trees here have had all the bark beaten off of them by woodpeckers after the borer grubs.