As city removes ash trees, others work to save them

BY ZOE GORMAN
BLADE STAFF WRITER

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Rich Savory points to damage caused by the emerald ash borer on a tree in his yard. Although Toledo is removing ash trees, arborists say many ash trees can be treated if the damage is caught early. THE BLADE/ANDY MORRISON Enlarge | Photo Reprints

Ash trees might not be doomed after all.

Although the city might have given up on its ash tree population and is scheduled to finish removing them this year, arborists offer services that can treat the trees if infection by the emerald ash borer — an Asian beetle that feeds off the trees’ vascular system and starves it to death — is not too far along. Despite doors the treatments might open for homeowners, city officials say they are not considering treating city-owned trees.

“There are treatments,” Toledo Forestry and Urban Beauty Commissioner Dennis Garvin said. “For the sheer volume of trees that the city of Toledo has got, it’s unfortunately not an option. We’ve got so many ash trees that [annual or biannual treatment] becomes very expensive.”

Although treatment can cost from $50 to $800 annually, tree removal can sometimes cost thousands of dollars. Since the deadline for applying for funding from the state to remove trees on private property this year has passed, tree treatments may prove effective solutions for homeowners.

Removing a tree also might significantly harm a property’s value, said Rich Savory, president of L.E. Savory Tree & Lawn Service, which specializes in ash tree preservation.

Mr. Savory said trees can be treated if only about 15 percent of the tree has died.

“The vast majority of people are still not aware that there’s a treatment,” said company vice president Patrick Savory, adding that his company has been treating hundreds of trees per year in Toledo and its surrounding areas since the emerald ash infestation started in 2003.

Tim De Luca of L.E. Savory Tree & Lawn Service demonstrates using a soil injection, fertilizer, and root stimulator system. THE BLADE/ANDY MORRISON Enlarge | Photo Reprints

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources offers community grants for ash tree removal through the U.S. Forest Service, but not for treatment.

A community’s decision to treat trees depends on how litigious the community is and whether it is willing to risk potentially hazardous trees standing on public property, said Stephanie Miller, ODNR urban forester for Region 4. Trees on public property, Ms. Miller said, are the legal responsibility of the community, not the state.

“Unfortunately for a lot of Ohio, we didn’t have very many options early on to treat the trees,” Ms. Miller said.

Yet some communities in northwest Ohio treat some of their public ash trees.

Perrysburg began treatments four years ago to prolong the time of death and spread out removal costs, Perrysburg Director of Public Service Jon Eckel said.

Treatment worked so well in about 25 percent of the trees that the city will continue to spend about $16,000 a year to maintain them. Mr. Eckel came up with the idea to cut away dead parts of the tree and then treat what remains, which he said has worked.

“We have not always followed strict guidelines from the ODNR,” he said.

“Because when [the infestation] first started out, they did not want us to treat the trees. What have we got to lose by doing something a little different?”

Amy Stone, Lucas County’s representative from Ohio State University Extension, said the ideal size for a tree that can be treated is 15 inches in diameter. Treatment methods include bark sprays, soil drenches — which homeowners can buy and mix themselves for smaller trees — soil injections, and bark injections.

L.E. Savory uses a drill-free treatment method that injects an insecticide directly into the bark at the tree’s base, using an injection gun that removes a small piece of bark from the tree and replaces it with a shot of treatment solution. The chemical is extremely toxic to beetles, Rich Savory said.

Jeff Oswald of L.E. Savory Tree & Lawn Service demonstrates the use of an injection gun system to put insecticide into an ash tree. THE BLADE/ANDY MORRISON Enlarge | Photo Reprints

The company recommends combining the injection treatment with a soil treatment.

Treatment is most successful in late spring when the beetles are emerging from the infested tree and feeding on the foliage or when the larvae are not as mature.

Treating a tree has advantages to a property other than its monetary or sentimental value, Lester Savory said.

Large trees can help purify the air, reduce noise, and shield a house from storms, he said, and communities are often too hasty to remove trees that could be maintained.

Perrysburg resident Nancy Alter has been treating trees with L.E. Savory for 30 years. When she heard about the emerald ash infestation, Mrs. Alter began treating two trees in her yard.

“They’re the primary trees in our backyard,” she said. “They look beautiful. We don’t have any problem.”

The untreated ash trees around the corner from her house, however, were not as fortunate, she said, and are dying.

While Toledo is getting rid of the current population of ash trees, the city might consider replanting ash trees once the emerald ash borer has left the area, Mr. Garvin said.

The city planted every variety of ash tree on Manhattan Boulevard, and has been monitoring them to see if it might replant some of the more resilient trees after the infestation has left northwest Ohio.

To avoid another infestation or disease again decimating a large portion of the city’s trees, Mr. Garvin said Toledo is replanting a diverse group of species to replace the ash.

Contact Zoe Gorman at: zgorman@theblade.com or 419-724-6050.

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