EAB has been found a few miles from my house. Destructive emerald ash borer has landed in North Jersey and may be here for good - News - NorthJersey.com Knew it was only a matter of time. Ash in general has been in decline around here without the EAB to wipe it out. I only have one ash left on my property, a few inches in diameter. I had a bigger one that was about 20" but it died off a few years ago. My neighbor has taken two down and there is another decript one across the street from me. There certainly won't be any in a few years.
That's a hard one to like... Its in NY too, but so far it hasn't hit my county yet - but we're surrounded. With the mix of trees I have, the ash lose their leaves first in the fall. So for the past week or so, I've had a sneak preview of what my property might look like after the EAB comes through. It's horrifying - it's probably my 2nd most common species behind red maple. There's a couple pure stands that go on for acres. I love me some ash firewood, but I don't want that much!
Well I'll be burning all ash this year if that says anything. It's a shame too. It only takes a little time. ifvthey are around you then you have them too
Ash trees grow like weeds around here. It's sickening to drive down the road and see hillsides peppered with ash trees and no way to get at them. When it hit here, it swept through like a big wave. On the bright side, I wouldn't have all the wood that I do if it weren't for ash. I think the ash has made me become more of a wood fiend than hoarder...or junkie even.
The town removed the ash on my front lawn two months ago (kept the burnables ) I never realized how many boulevard trees were ash till they started dying off. A friend wants to start a sawmill with me. I suggested we cut & hoard all the ash we can as it's plentiful now but in a few years time there may be a premium on it. BLSH - buy low, sell high.
For sure it is a shame. It still hurts to see all our ash tree go. We started cutting in 2002 and still have a long ways to go. Back in the woods more hunting lately I see a lot more have fell. They started falling about 3 years ago. They dry out and rot just below ground level so you get a few roots but that's okay. But it is to the point where one has to really look out for dead limbs that might come falling down as you cut.
Norky, we have not had the swiss cheese problem. As stated, we've cut dead ash since 2002 and still have much to go. In the last 2 years we have run into just a little bit of ash that we left in the woods; very little; probably altogether less than 1/8th of a cord. The wood is fine otherwise.
Fortunately there is a good mix of species here and although it's in the mix ash isn't predominate. There's much more oak so if that oak blight gets here the area is going to be worse off.
The EAB larvae attack just under the bark, mostly in the cambium layer. So most of the damage remains in the outermost "live edge" of the log, which you normally saw away first anyway. I plan to keep the choicest ones for lumber as well. I've got a beauty right in my backyard - not the biggest one Ive got but its dead plumb straight and has a nice healthy canopy. Still even has most of its leaves right now. I'm going to try the pesticides on this one to try and hold them off for a few more years, because I think its entering some prime growth years right now.
Get the injection with tree-age. The basal drench with safari is not as effective. Injections aren't cheap, but last twice as long as the drench. My town has spent 3+ million $ this year alone dropping all the ash in the parks and right of ways because removal is cheaper than 1 treatment.
I have some nice Ash in my property.Sold some logs already. "They" are in the area here. Not 100% sure if I have any on the property yet. Sad stuff.
I've cut 6 cords of ash in the past few weeks and can plainly see that they go beyond the cambium layer. But don't take my word for it. Here you go. EAB Life Cycle | Emerald Ash Borer Information Network I think the wood would still work great for construction grade, but not furniture grade.
Sure it is. Here's a little more. http://www.emeraldashborer.info/documents/wooduse/UtilizationOptionsForUrbanTrees.pdf
They had some pictures. Those trees you were cutting in the field I'm sure were not great for lumber, but they wouldn't have been anyway being open grown trees. Bottom line, I'm still going to try, and I'm sure I'll still end up with a nice hoard of furniture grade stuff.
It's quite possible that the heartwood is fine. I just know I'm seeing a lot of channeling, although it could just be on the outer layers of the wood. I did notice that when the infestation is concentrated in a small area, that area seems to rot faster and deeper into the wood.
Yeah I'll need to harvest the nicer ones before they're too long dead, or I'll lose even more of the wood to rot. It just sucks...
I can't imagine loosing all of my Ash trees, their about 25% of the trees on my property! It would take years for me to cut them all down.
