EAB for All Ash ? (e.g. Black Ash)

[GregManning]

Are all Ash equally susceptible to EAB ?

Of specific interest, Black Ash (Fraxinus nigra):

My father (ceramic engineer) had many artistic hobbies. He made (among other things):
hand thrown pottery, including dinnerware sets
a wooden weaving loom (4 shuttle) from scratch.
Target quality long bow & arrows from scratch
braided rugs (using woolen scraps)
wood carvings (walnut, oak, maple, etc)

And true "shaker style" woven baskets, using "swamp ash" (Fraxinus nigra); sometimes called Black ash.
Process:
continuously soak log in water (stream, pond, etc)
remove bark
hammer every square inch of every annual ring, to loosen the annual ring of wood
split each annual ring into desired thickness (special homemade device)
cut strips to the desired width
smooth the strip surfaces
(everything is kept wet continuously)
weaving was done either free hand, or sometime using his own plaster molds to set the starting shape.

Some are small (e.g. for family members sharing a batch of popcorn.)
Some are quite large (27" D X 19" H). This was used frequently for garden weed, lawn leaves, etc.

Note: These are not commercial "Longaberger" (maple) baskets.

Similar shaker baskets sell for many hundreds of dollars. He gave most of his away.

http://www.blackashbaskets.com/process.html

 

[JD3000]

All of our native ash are susceptible as they have little to no resistance to this introduced species. It works the other way as well as European white birch are often decimated by our native bronze birch borer (Agrilus anxius) and China is having fits with our tent caterpillars that ended up over there.

So, are some of our ash less susceptible? Perhaps a bit but once a population of EAB builds up in a given area, ash start declining and dying rapidly. All host trees above a minimum diameter are sought out and infested. Somewhere out there may be some selected specimens that are particularly resistant and they may be cloned in the future if so.

Really cool woodworking!

 

[Tom Dunlap]

There is a huge concern for
The time that EAB makes its way to central minnesota. Black ash is prevalent there. My guess is that the area will look a lot like the beetle kill areas in the Rockies

 

[tc262]

Sorry Tom but they are at central Minn doorstep if not already there. I feel bad for a lot of my clients. My next largish job on my schedule I'm removing 27 ash trees, most in the 16" to 20" dbh range. There will only be five trees left on the property when I leave, all under 6".

 

[Boomslang]

If I remember correctly there was talk a couple years back of Blue Ash (F. quadrangulata) showing some resistance to EAB....at least compared to other ashes, but not sure if that was confirmed or not.

It'll be a shame once EAB hits us out here because we have a fair amount of Black Ash that the natives still weave baskets from. That will soon become a lost art.

 

[JD3000]

For those of you coming to Ohio for the Expo, pay attention to all the dead ash along the freeways. That's just what you can see and is a proverbial drop in the bucket.

 

[Tom Dunlap]

Sorry Tom but they are at central Minn doorstep if not already there.

I'm sure of that too. I don't know where the official airings have been. Last year EAB was found above the hill in Duluth. That's like being across the street from the black ash forests

I just read a BBC article that proposed that ash trees are in their way to extinction. There will always be a few outliers or isolated trees. And stump
Suckers growing into full size trees too

 

[GregManning]

[QUOTE="It'll be a shame once EAB hits us out here because we have a fair amount of Black Ash that the natives still weave baskets from. That will soon become a lost art.[/QUOTE]

Lost Art ............ Yes sir !

 

[Acerxharlowii]

If you are not treating your Ash you will get the borer...it's not a question of IF it's When. Treating does work though. arbor mectin works!!