As Ash Borer Strikes Again, an Alternative to Cutting Down Diseased Trees
WHAM (Rochester, NY)

The emerald ash borer is back, invading and killing local ash trees.

Sometimes the solution is to just cut those trees down, but it's not the only option. Trees can be treated.

According to arborist Mike Cullen, the cost for one treatment of a normal sized ash tree, not quite 2-feet in diameter, would be about $200. Then you would have to do it again a couple years later.

Cullen spent most of the Wednesday treating ash trees in the Town of Chili.

We are inoculating them with a systemic insecticide, which lasts anywhere from two to four years," he told 13WHAM.

First, he measures the trunk to determine how many holes to drill into the base of the tree. Then, Cullen hammers plastic plugs into the drilled holes.

"Inject it right into the tree,” said Cullen. “Each pump goes from the bottle in the tree."

He said this an alternative way of protecting trees against the invasive ash borer beetle, at least in the short term.

Read the full article here.