Grand River Tree Service is hoping to partner with people in the community to help save local ash trees from the emerald ash borer.
After Bill McCaw, a Fergus resident, inquired about protecting ash trees on his street, Grand River Tree Service decided to partner with anyone in Centre Wellington to save a municipal ash tree in front of their property. The company will provide the labour if the property owner pays for the insecticide treatment.
“We’re being proactive to partner with the community to save a portion of the tree canopy within the community,” said Pat Caplice of Grand River Tree Service.
Property owners need to get permission from the municipality before work is done and the trees will have to be assessed.
“If a homeowner wants to treat their own ash tree, like in their backyard, they’re more than welcome to do that (but) they would need to seek permission from the township to do any work to the ash trees within the municipal road allowance,” said Colin Baker, Centre Wellington managing director of infrastructure services.
McCaw said, “These trees have value. I regard a tree like this as an asset just like any other asset in the community.”
Caplice explained the emerald ash borer has been reported in Fergus and Elora.
The insect was first detected in North America in 2002, eating its way from Windsor to Montreal since then.
“In the initial flush of Dutch elm disease, about 250 million trees died. In the initial flush of emerald ash borer it’s predicted that 7 billion trees in North America will die. So the scope of it is astronomical,” said Caplice.
The larvae eat the cambium layer of the tree, where the nutrients move up and down. It takes about three years for the tree to die, and by the time the infestation is noticeable, it is almost too late to treat.
However, Caplice explained that if the ash tree is treated while it is healthy, the insecticide injected into it is almost 100 per cent effective against the emerald ash borer.
He does treatments from the first week in June to mid-August. After that it becomes too late because trees start to become dormant.
The township was tasked during budget meetings earlier this year to form a strategy to combat the pest. It is still in that process.
Baker said he wants to discuss further with Grand River Tree Service to see if their plan could be part of the township’s strategy.
While Grand River Tree Service could work with individual property owners, their community-wide plan will have to wait for council’s approval.
“They think it’s a great idea,” said Caplice.
“But they’ve come to the conclusion that they should ask council first, and they can’t put it on the council agenda until the last week of August.”
Residents can still treat their own ash trees but they have to get permission to treat the municipal trees around their property.
