Emerald Ash Borer Update & Treatment Program

Press release from the City of Mendota Heights:

Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) was first discovered in Mendota Heights in 2015. This will be the fifth growing season that Mendota Heights has experienced EAB, and usually about the time when the disease really starts to gain momentum in a community. You may begin to notice more and more tree removal, or dead and dying ash trees throughout Mendota Heights.

Emerald Ash borer is a non-native insect from Asia that feeds on ash trees and disrupts the nutrients and water that flows through the tree, eventually killing it.

Signs of EAB include:

• Canopy die-back
• Blond patches on branches and/or trunk
• Woodpecker damage
• Splitting bark
• D-shaped exit holes

City Staff has begun notifying residents if it is suspected that ash tree(s) on their property are infected with Emerald Ash Borer. Removal on private property is not required by City Code, but is encouraged to help slow the spread, and prevent dead and dying ash trees from becoming a safety hazard. The City has also begun removals of infected ash trees within the Right-of-Way along public streets, and within City property. If you have an ash tree on your property that is in the early stages of infection, or has not yet become infected, treatment may be an option. The City has continued its partnership with Rainbow Treecare to offer treatments to residents at a discounted rate. Contact Rainbow Tree Care directly if you are interested in taking advantage of this program: Rainbow Treecare's Discount Program for Mendota Heights.

Regardless of your choice or ability to treat your ash tree, consider replacing your ash tree with another shade tree species. Some good options for replacement shade tree species are:

• Basswood (Linden) Tilia Americana
• Bitternut Hickory Carya cordiformis
• Black Walnut Juglans nigra
• Bur Oak Quercus macrocarpa
• Cathedral Elm Ulmus ‘Cathedral’ and other Dutch Elm Disease resistant elms
• Hackberry Celtis occidentalis
• Ironwood Ostrya virginiana
• Kentucky Coffee Tree Gymnocladus dioicus
• Swamp White Oak Quercas bicolor
• White Oak Quercus alba

For more information visit: Mendota Heights EAB webpage.

Note that due to the ‘Stay at Home’ order issued by Governor Walz to take effect at end of day Friday, March 27, Rainbow Treecare is not performing any work (with the exception of hazardous tree work) until Monday, April 13, 2020. They are still available during normal business hours to review any questions you may have and plan to resume their tree care services after this order is expired while adhering to safe distancing protocols. Please see their website for any updates to this information.

This press release was produced by the City of Mendota Heights. The views expressed here are the author’s own.