To protect its ash trees, build public awareness of a destructive insect, and encourage community involvement, the city of Evansville, Indiana, has partnered with TruGreen® to create a new Adopt-an-Ash program.Learn more.
If you’ve never heard of emerald ash borer, consider yourself lucky. The little green beetle is causing big trouble.
The invasive insect has destroyed millions of ash trees in the U.S. and Canada, and running up a bill the USDA estimates could get as high as $10 billion by 2019. With no natural predator, it could eventually cause the functional extinction of the North American ash tree.
Emerald ash borer (or EAB for short) hasn’t reached Evansville yet, but it has been found in many parts of Indiana and neighboring states. To protect its ash trees, build public awareness of the destructive insect, and encourage community involvement, the City has collaborated with TruGreen to create a new “Adopt-an-Ash” program.
Through the “Adopt-an-Ash” program, residents, businesses and organizations can sponsor a city tree and subsidize its treatment and protection. Each tree will be identified with a customized tag identifying the donation and adoption. The City is also encouraging private land owners to protect their ash trees from the threat.
This unique tree adoption program can serve as a model for other communities currently fighting, or are concerned about, the invasive pest.
More on TruGreen’s partnership with the City of Evansville and the “Adopt-an-Ash” program can be found at: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/trugreen-partners-with-the-city-of-evansville-indiana-to-fight-invasive-beetle-and-save-trees-through-adopt-an-ash-community-program-300276951.html
Emerald Ash Borer Detection and Protection
Detection of EAB is difficult and professional help is typically needed; TruGreen offers homeowners a free evaluation.
The best way to stop the pest is actually by preventing infestation and treating the tree early. Often, by the time the beetle is detected, it’s too late to save the tree. If a tree is already infested or to protect a healthy tree, a TruGreen specialist use a proprietary trunk-injection method designed to deliver the treatment product directly to the tree’s vascular system. TruGreen’s treatment is good for up to two years, and when done early enough has a greater than 95% success rate in saving the tree.
“In the past several years, TruGreen worked with local governments, as well as individual home and land owners, to treat and protect more than 25,000 ash trees across the U.S. and Canada,” said Ben Hamza, PhD, Director of Technical Operations at TruGreen. “Our partnership with the City of Evansville has created a new standard for our work with municipalities and an inspiration to other cities and towns across the country.”
EAB has been found in Michigan, Indiana, Minnesota, Illinois, Kentucky, New York, Missouri, Kansas, Ohio, Colorado, West Virginia, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin—as well as in Canada, in Ontario and Quebec. If you live in any of these states, or in neighboring areas, TruGreen specialists can help starting with a free evaluation.
More information on TruGreen’s services against the beetle can be found at: http://www.trugreen.com/blog/tree-service/tree-ofbm/
Chat with Us
