Here’s a link: Shady lanes no more | FortWayne.com – Fort Wayne IN.

We’re glad to see that our Association’s fight against the Emerald Ash Borer is being noticed in the wider community. We hope folks in other neighborhoods will visit our website, read what we have done, borrow what they like, and improve on our efforts.

I would like to give a tip of the hat to folks in our association who made our efforts possible:

• Pat Thomson has been involved in every step of the process and raised awareness of the issue.
• Kasey Krouse graded our ash street trees.
• Pat and Cheryl McCarthy treated the trees and toted the water needed for each application.
• City Arborist Chad Tinkel provided the ash inventory for us to work from.
• Folks like Jo Burkhardt contributed to our EAB treatment funds, as did anybody who made purchases at out plant sale fundraiser.
• Thanks to everyone who voted and created consensus to divert funds from Dirt Day to ongoing EAB treatment.

If a tree has lost more than 50 percent of its canopy, it is probably too late to save the tree. Studies have shown that it is best to begin using insecticides while ash trees are still relatively healthy. This is because most of the insecticides used for EAB control act systemically — the insecticide must be transported within the tree. In other words, a tree must be healthy enough to carry a systemic insecticide up the trunk and into the branches and canopy. When EAB larvae feed, their galleries injure the plant’s circulatory system. This interferes with the ability of the tree to transport nutrients and water, as well as insecticides. As a tree becomes more and more infested, the injury becomes more severe. Large branches or even the trunk can be girdled by the larval galleries.

Studies have also shown that if the canopy of a tree is already declining when insecticide treatments are initiated, the condition of the tree may continue to deteriorate during the first year of treatment. In many cases, the tree canopy will begin to improve in the second year of treatment. This lag in the reversal of canopy decline probably reflects the time needed for the tree to repair its vascular system after the EAB infestation has been reduced.

Here’s the “executive summary”: if a tree has been treated for the Emerald Ash Borer, it may take more than one year’s treatment before there are visible signs of improvement in the tree’s appearance. It takes time for the treatment to fully circulate.

If a tree has already lost more than half of it’s canopy, it isn’t a good candidate for beginning treatment.

If youʼre one of the lucky new tree recipients, hereʼs how to get your tree off to a good start:

1. Water after planting, even if the tree was planted in a dormant state.

2. Around the treeʼs base, leave the first 4 – 6 inches bare and, in a wider circle, top dress lightly with mulch to save the trunk from mowing mishaps. If the city top dressed with mulch right to the trunk, please pull it back that first 4 – 6 inches. This prevents root growth into the mulch, a sure fire way to harm a tree.

3. Next spring and summer, WATER OFTEN, especially during periods of drought.

4. To help the roots establish, apply a root stimulator following label instructions. McNamaraʼs and Menardʼs both stock root stimulators, which are inexpensive (one $5-$7 bottle is all youʼll need), easy to apply, and great for getting ALL new plantings off to a good start.

5. Give the tree a couple of years to get established before you start giving it competition by planting a ground cover or annuals around it.

Southwood Park has lost a lot of street trees but weʼre ever so lucky to be getting these replacements. Itʼs a new start to a new tree canopy that, with proper care, we will watch grow and enjoy for years to come.

— Pat Thomson

September 7, 2011

 Dear Valued Neighbor,

 We hope this letter finds you well.

 Our hope for this letter is to inform you of a few items as it pertains to the former Taylor Fort Wayne Campus.  Ambassador Campus Properties, LLC, the new owner of the campus and has re-named the property, “The Summit.” We are a local company with many ties to our Fort Wayne community.  We are excited about the opportunities that lie ahead and hope to keep you informed as exciting things start to happen.

 Since purchasing the campus in May, we have been assessing all items that need repaired or maintained. We have made progress with this in a few areas, including the re-paving of the parking lot.  One of the many items that needs to be addressed is the dead and dying trees.  We want to let you know that we are contracting with a reputable company, Asplundh, to remove 40+ dead or dying trees as well as doing some pruning to several others. Weather permitting, the work may begin as early as Saturday, September 10^th and should be finished within a week. Thank you in advance for your understanding as there may be some noise or debris during that time from this work.

In addition to this email, approximately 30+ postal letters will be mailed to neighbors with property that is close to the area where the most activity will be concentrated. Please feel welcome to forward this to any of your neighbors or post the info on a neighborhood association website.

We look forward to great things in the future and are thankful that you are our neighbor.

Sincerely,

Ryan Estes

Ambassador Enterprises

Ryan.Estes@Ambassador-Enterprises.com,  direct  260-446-3218,       cell  260-687-9253

www.Ambassador-Enterprises.com

EDITOR’S NOTE:  I walked the woods on Friday and found that all the trees I saw marked with an “X” were ash trees. That was about 25 trees, so it isn’t unreasonable that another 15 ashes lurk elsewhere on campus. If the removals are limited to marked trees, this is nothing to be worried about, just something to be aware of.  —Steve McCord

You’ve already seen plenty of blog posts and news stories about the importance of preventing invasive weeds from spreading to places where they won’t be welcome. You can help just as much in the fight against invasive insects like the Asian longhorned beetle, redbay ambrosia beetle, emerald ash borer and hemlock woolly adelgid.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has proclaimed August as “Invasive Plant Pest and Disease Awareness Month.”

The bumper stickers that proclaim “Don’t Move Firewood” include one example of how you can help. If you’re camping, hiking, hunting or fishing, gather or purchase firewood close to your campsite rather than bringing it with you from home. When you’re ready to go home, leave any firewood that you’ve purchased at the site. Doing so may seem like a waste of money, but it will save millions of dollars in costly treatments as a result of an insect transported in some leftover firewood. In fact, in Florida, the redbay ambrosia beetle skipped from north Florida to southern Florida because someone brought home a log he had found on the side of the road.

Avid gardeners often like to purchase plants that they find overseas or in another state. Before you bring that plant home and plant it, inspect it for dead leaves or any odd characteristics, such as holes in the leaves or stems; white, fuzzy spots along the stem; or dying leaves.

APHIS has a list of specific actions you can take against spreading invasive pests in the factsheet “Attack of the Invasive Species.” you can also visit www.HungryPests.com to learn more about invasive pests. If you’re on Twitter, you can follow the APHIS Twitter feed at http://twitter.com/#!/usda_aphis.

The PA Department of Agriculture has hung them in ash trees all over eastern PA this summer.  My guess is we’re going to find out about a considerable range increase for this terribly destructive insect.  Already this year, 2 new counties have been added to the list, Huntingdon and Wyoming.  IT IS NOW IN THE EASTERN PART OF PA, having been detected just north of Wilkes-Barre.

Things you need to know: – Adults can fly on their own approx. 1/2 mile.  So the pest isn’t moving very fast on its own.

- It gets help in colonizing territory from people moving infested firewood.

- If emerald ash borer gets close to your area, your landscape trees can be treated by soil injections.  Bigger trees can only, so far, be successfully treated by trunk injection of insecticides.  Treatments need to be done annually to be effective.

- Experts do not suggest treating trees unless an infestation has been detected within 15 miles.  To treat before the threat is there is a waste of money.  And trunk injection is an invasive procedure.  Don’t injure the tree with it until you need to.  And don’t believe anyone who tells you that their trunk injection method causes no injury to the tree.

- If your trees are monitored by a competent arborist, you are not likely to be caught by surprise by emerald ash borer.  If it    shows up, you will have time to control it if you choose to.

- NEW information: A new chemical is available that is highly effective and lasts more than one season.  Hopefully it will be  legally registered for emerald ash borer control in Pennsylvania soon.  And hopefully the price will come down (it’s very expensive).

- MORE NEW information: A new monitoring tool may soon become available.  Recent research on developing a sex attractant (pheromone) has been promising.  The purple monitoring traps now use two aromatic tree oils as attractant.

- Still more new information: Research has also uncovered promising indications of natural biological control of emerald ash borer.
We in southeast PA are lucky to have the benefit of a decade of other’s experience and research before having to face the emerald ash borer.

Not did you believe John

(Calvin OR Wesley)

But do you fully believe Jesus.

        – eab, 6/24/11

or

just a goal?        

- eab, 7/7/11