What to do with all the Ash?

[MICHAEL H]

Recently cut up a downed ash tree. Down since spring. Fair amount of wood. Discovered it is full of the Ash Bore larvae. Tell tale grooving and lots of little white larvae throughout. What would you guys do? Burn it now. Or. Will the larvae survive the winter in the splits. I just dont feel real comfortable knowing I have a load of Ash sitting around full of the Ash borer.

 

[nrford]

Burn it now. They will survive the winter and hatch!!

 

[Wood Duck]

If you live in an area with a lot of ash, there are probably so many ash borers around that the ones in the firewood won't make any difference. If you're going to burn the firewood, you could split it and let it dry at least a few months and still burn before any borers could hatch.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Wood Duck is right. The larvae you find in one or two trees is not much. It would sort of be like taking a shovel full of dirt out of a gravel truck. Won't make much difference at all. Split it, stack it and burn next year.

 

[Gasifier]

Yep, stack it outside and let it dry for a year. Unfortunately those bugs are going to do what they do. And there is nothing you can do about it. Except c/s/s and burn all that Ash you can and keep your house warm. If it is up on some pallets and good air can get all around it it will last a long time. Good BTUs for many years of heat in the future.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Just for what it is worth, they tried cutting and burning tons and tons of ash around various places in Michigan. It did absolutely no good. The spread continued and eventually the powers that be admitted there is nothing anyone can do to stop the spread.

 

[jdinspector]

I read with sadness today that a local suburb is banning ash trees from being planted. They've had a lot of problems with pretty much all ash trees that have been cut. "Almost every ash tree the Public Works Department has inspected is infected", said one local official. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-ash-borer-ban-1211-20111211,0,5042616.story

 

[jdinspector]

From the same article... "Ash trees on private property — the village estimates there could be about 13,000 of those — present an even trickier situation. Because the tree is now considered a nuisance plant, private property owners are also required to remove any infected trees." I'm about 2-1/2 years ahead on wood right now, but I think I need to find out where all of these trees are being taken. I think I'll find out that they're all being chipped. Bummer!

 

[fireview2788]

That's an ignorant approach. You need to over plant to replace what is being killed and allow the trees to repopulate on their own. My ash trees dump a ton of seeds and anything that grows int he flowerbed gets transplanted to a better location.


f v

 

[Wood Duck]

From the same article... "Ash trees on private property — the village estimates there could be about 13,000 of those — present an even trickier situation. Because the tree is now considered a nuisance plant, private property owners are also required to remove any infected trees." I'm about 2-1/2 years ahead on wood right now, but I think I need to find out where all of these trees are being taken. I think I'll find out that they're all being chipped. Bummer!

Most states have laws stating that it is illegal to have invasive species (species listed on a state list) on your property and those plants must be removed. I have never heard of any jurisdiction anywhere attempting to enforce that type of law, and it is easy to find invasive species for sale in the same states that ban them. I would expect nothing to come of any regulations about nuisance plants.

 

[smokinj]

I would split and stack it......

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Right on Jay.