Are Your Trees Dying?

You cannot turn the news on in Kansas City and not hear something about the growing threat of the emerald ash borer. Little may be done to save your tree once it is infested but by close monitoring you may be able to notify pest control agencies so your tree can be correctly removed and disposed of to help prevent the insects from spreading to other trees in your yard or neighborhood.
Homeowners will want to decide if they want to save a valued ash tree by beginning treatments next spring, or if they instead want to plant another tree species now as an eventual replacement, said Lonnie Messbarger, an MDC resource forester based in St. Joseph.



The Wedgle Direct-Inject System is the fast, effective, tree-friendly way to treat trees for a broad range of destructive pests, harmful diseases, and nutrient deficiencies including reduce risk of Pine Wilt Nematode, Emerald Ash Borers, psyllids, aphids, Oak Wilt, Dutch Elm Disease, Anthracnose, chlorosis and growth regulators.
Jefferson County EAB Find Background - On October 21, 2015, seven emerald ash borer larva were found when a girdled trap tree was peeled at emerald ash borer treatment in kansas city Perry Lake below the dam by the Kansas Department of Agriculture in cooperation with the Corp of Engineers and the Kansas Forest Service.

The reason groups like the Society of Municipal Arborists and leading researchers studying this issue push treatment is because of the substantial environmental, economic and life benefits of doing so. It benefits communities to keep mature trees around because they help with storm water management and lessen energy bills.
Research indicates that regular treatments may be necessary for 6-10 years while Emerald Ash Borer outbreak populations persist. The hope is to keep the ash borer away from healthy trees that can yet be saved. That means that you can not take any ash wood out of your county.

Emerald ash borer was discovered for the first time during the summer of 2002 in southeast Michigan near the international port cities of Detroit and Windsor, Ontario. In the U.S., EAB is found in Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.