I am amazed at the events, services, facilities and fun made available to our community by our Parks and Recreation Department. Ice skating, nighttime canoeing on Griffy, a Dr. Seuss party at the library, art fairs, urban gardening and forestry and more. No one in Bloomington should ever be bored! – Deb
Smaller than Abe Lincoln’s head on a penny, this little green beetle is having a big impact. The emerald ash borer, or EAB, is forcing the city and homeowners to make a decision.
The EAB feeds only on ash trees, so the first step is to identify your yard trees. Google “identify ash tree” for help. City staff will spend most of February marking and evaluating publicly owned ash trees on city streets. If a purple dot appears on a tree in the right of way, it’s a sure bet it’s an ash.
The city has three choices for dealing with its ash trees, and they are the same choices you, the homeowner, have: Hire a licensed applicator to treat the tree with a insecticide every two to three years for the life of the tree; do nothing to the tree and allow the EAB to kill it; or remove the ash tree.
Watch your ash closely this spring for signs of EAB, like dieback in the crown or woodpecker activity. Visit emeraldashborer.info for resources, or call the Purdue Cooperative Extension Service at (812) 349-2575 for help. Learn more about the city’s ash tree identification campaign (all public ash trees marked with purple paint), and its updated ash management plan, online at bloomington.in.gov/eab. Learn more about EAB and how to make the best decision for your ash trees at extension.entm.purdue.edu/EAB.
Information courtesy of Julie Ramey, Community Relations Manager for the Bloomington Parks and Recreation Department. Her background is with the Indiana DNR Division of Forestry and U.S. Forest Service, so she understands the love people have for trees.