A recent article in Total Landscape Care reports that the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has now listed five prominent species of North American ash trees–green, white, blue, black, and pumpkin–as critically endangered.

The news comes amidst a nationwide infestation of the emerald ash borer, a metallic green beetle roughly the size of a penny that “bores” its way into ash trees and lays its deadly larvae.

“Feeding on the ash tree, they chew through the bark and feast on the tissues of the tree creating S-shaped galleries that are a tell-tale sign of their presence,” the article says. “This disrupts the flow of water and nutrients, causing the tree to slowly starve.”

According to Total Landscape Care, the emerald ash borer is believed to have arrived in North America on shipping pellets from Asia in the 1990s, and was first detected in Detroit, Mich. in 2002. The bug has since shown up in a grand total of 31 states (including New Jersey) and two Canadian provinces.

The article continues, “By the time symptoms are noticeable, it is already too late to do anything to save the tree. There is currently no cure for an EAB infestation, but if proactive steps are taken, insecticide applications have proven effective in protecting ash trees.”

Emerald Ash Borer Treatment in NJ
High Tech’s Integrated Plant Health Care Systems (IPHCS) division has been combatting the emerald ash borer across the Garden State since the first bug was confirmed in New Jersey in 2015. Because the early stage of infestation is difficult to detect, we recommend all New Jersey homeowners and business owners with any type of ash tree on or near their property act fast and seek treatment.

IPHCS’ emerald ash borer treatment includes a combination of sprays, insecticides and, when necessary, tree removal and replanting. Learn more here, and see our complete plant health care services here.