Detroit Emeralds
Ash trees. Where can I buy Sting-less Wasps?
I have three emerald ash trees. Planted them in 2001 and in 2002, the Ash Borer pandemic struck. I’m just south of Detroit(Michigan) where the outbreak was first noticed. Out of the three trees, only one is showing signs of the borer. The trees get treated every spring with Bayer Tree and Scrub Insect Control and so far they are thriving. The one tree, however, still has the D shaped holes and we have lost several limbs. I read an article in TIME mag about the sting-less wasp being the natural enemy of the Ash Borer and I tired to Google search how to go about purchasing some but all I get are articles. Is it something that the public CAN purchase or is it strictly state and government regulated? I’d really like to keep my trees.
The one with D-shaped holes is most likely a goner. Those holes are EXIT holes, not entrance hole, so seeing them means that the borers were in there, munching the cambium, they pupated, changed into adult beetle, and LEFT the tree, leaving behind those distinctive holes. in other words, the horse is out of the barn.
The cambium on that tree has already been damaged. Trees store a lot of energy, and that’s why it might not look totally dead yet. Also – the borer interrupts the flow of water an nutrients from the roots to the top of the tree, but it doesn’t kill the roots. So an attacked tree, will start sprouting more heavily from the base, because the roots are still alive. The top of the tree can take a few years to die.
I had an apple tree once get completely ringed by rabbits one January. The destroyed the bark and cambium all the way around the tree, from ground level to about a foot up. That tree had enough stored energy that it proceeded to flower, leaf out – and grow apples that year. I was totally amazed. It even started setting buds going into winter before it realized it was not getting reinforcements from the roots, and finally died.
Ash tree damage is like that. The effects you see are a very delayed reaction. Once the exit holes are there, the cambium has already been eaten, and the larvae have left the building. THEN the tree slowly realizes it’s not communicating with the roots, and gets thinner at the top, and 2 years later will look mostly dead, and be sprouting from the base.
Sting-less wasps can do nothing fro that tree now. Keep treating your other two – they may survive.
Detroit Emeralds – Feel The Need
