Is emerald ash borer a problem in Indiana? (Fortville, Indiana)

Is emerald ash borer a problem in Indiana?

It has already moved through Indiana and killed the overwhelming majority of untreated ash. An untreated ash here is on a clock, not at risk. In Fortville, the most concrete local evidence is the town's own prohibited-species list (Ch. 95.22, adopted 2002), which bars silver maple, box elder, cottonwood, all willows, all elms, mulberry, Lombardy poplar, tree of heaven, black walnut, black locust, paper and European white birch, southern catalpa, Bradford pear and ginkgo except seedless cultivars from any public street, alley or park planting. Mature shade trees line the old core, the north and east subdivisions carry five- to ten-year-old planted stock, and ash is effectively gone statewide from emerald ash borer. Treatable while the canopy is still mostly intact.

Fortville's canopy and what's at risk

The most concrete local evidence is the town's own prohibited-species list (Ch. 95.22, adopted 2002), which bars silver maple, box elder, cottonwood, all willows, all elms, mulberry, Lombardy poplar, tree of heaven, black walnut, black locust, paper and European white birch, southern catalpa, Bradford pear and ginkgo except seedless cultivars from any public street, alley or park planting. Mature shade trees line the old core, the north and east subdivisions carry five- to ten-year-old planted stock, and ash is effectively gone statewide from emerald ash borer.

What to look for

Thinning from the top down, D-shaped exit holes about an eighth of an inch across, sprouts low on the trunk, and pale flecking where woodpeckers have stripped bark to get at larvae.

Whether the tree can be saved

Treatable while the canopy is still mostly intact. Once roughly a third of it is gone, treatment stops being worth the money and the tree becomes a removal — and a dead ash goes brittle unusually fast, which makes it both more dangerous and more expensive the longer it stands.

Timing in Hancock County

Trunk injection in spring or early summer, repeated every one to two years for the life of the tree. It is a permanent commitment, not a cure.

Is emerald ash borer a problem in Indiana?

Fortville's canopy and what's at risk

What to look for

Whether the tree can be saved

Timing in Hancock County

Crews near Fortville

Pro Finish Tree Care

Broken Oak Tree Service LLC

Witsken Tree Removal

JT Tree Service

IndyArborist.com Tree Service LLC

ASAP Tree and Crane Services

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