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AUGUSTA — The Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry’s Horticulture Program and Forest Health and Monitoring Division recently deployed an all-points bulletin requesting assistance locating thirty-six green ash trees sold at Lowe’s stores in Maine.
Not surprisingly, considering the dangers of emerald ash borer to Maine’s forests, Lowe’s customers responded massively. With the support of Maine media, social media, and Lowe’s Compliance Department, thirty of the thirty-six trees were located. State and federal inspectors have found no evidence of EAB infestation on these small-diameter trees. However, the threat remains with six trees still at large– the trees were imported into un-infested Maine towns from a nursery in Maryland where emerald ash borer is widespread.
“Every tree owner with whom we spoke recognized the risks of keeping the recently purchased ash trees,” explained Regina Smith, Entomology Technician with the Maine Forest Service. The risks include:
* The potential for speeding up the introduction of EAB to their neighborhood
* A future need for pesticide treatments for as many as ten years to maintain tree health
* The possibility of violating plant quarantine laws
DACF is requesting remaining Lowe’s customers who bought a green ash tree this year from any of the stores in Maine or New Hampshire to report them to bugwatch@maine.gov or call 20-287-7545, so the trees can be inspected for signs of EAB even if the tree may have died. Infested trees will have to be destroyed; healthy trees will need annual re-inspection until EAB is established in the area where the tree was planted.
Alert for garden centers and nurseries
The DACF Horticulture Program and Forest Health and Monitoring Division urge tree and shrub sellers to stop selling any fraxinus species (white, green, black/brown ash or chionanthus white fringe tree. DACF suggests that homeowners not plant these species because EAB will attack trees as small as one inch in diameter. Without regular insecticide treatments, most of the ash in Maine will succumb to this invasive green beetle. Visit the Maine Bureau of Agriculture’s Horticulture Program webpages for more information.
