Process of decline due to Emerald Ash Borer (trees, yard, spring)

[DairyGodmother]

We bought our house in southern CT last fall, and had a ton of renovating to do so didn't put too much attention to the yard until now. We knew we sad a sick tree, and I thought it might be an ash, and yesterday a certified arborist confirmed we were losing it to the Ash borer that's taking them out across the country. So she gave me an estimate to remove the tree, and while it does not seem unreasonable at $1600, it is ideally something we could do in the fall. She urged us not to wait, and I honestly don't think she was trying to get the sale. She even suggested that if we waited too long she would have to raise the price due to having to move about the tree more carefully in taking it down.

Wondered if anyone here could give broad description of the speed of decline of these trees and rough timeline of what I can expect. I'm sorry i cannot post a picture, I can say the canopy is showing decline but the bark does not show much yet of the infestation....probably will emerge further in the Spring.

The tree is somewhat close to our house, so the prospect of it dying fast is a concern...but the 6 months to save for the money would be nice.

Any thoughts/experience welcome

[Isleofpalms85]

Here in Central Indiana, the emerald ash borer infestations are an all too common sight and this has been a problem for the Indianapolis area since the early or mid 2000’s; from my personal observations, in many cases at least in my opinion, the decline and death of ash trees can be a year’s long process; initially, the canopy of the ash tree may not be as thick or as dark green a color as it was before the infestation, as the years go by, the canopy may go from being a thick and deep green color to progressively more sparse and paler and eventually a yellow green color, over the years, you might notice dieback on branches, and then finally the death of the whole tree, of course many other environmental factors could hasten the decline and death of ash trees due to the emerald ash borer, I hope I answered some of the questions you had.

[jackmichigan]

The speed of an Ash tree's demise will depend largely upon the amount of infestation. If there are lots of Emerald Ash borer larvae tunneling under the bark, that will more quickly kill the tree. If there are just a few, the process will take longer. Southeast Michigan was, unfortunately, the epicenter of the Emerald Ash borer outbreak. (All of this devastation due to our penchant for cheap Chinese goods@#!) Nearly 100% of our ash trees have died as a result. Once infested, most ash trees in this area seemed to die within 1 - 2 years; some struggled with sparse vegetation for another year or so.

If you only have the one tree, there are pesticides that you may want to consider. They are expensive, however, and I'm not sure how effective they would be if your tree is already heavily infested. It's a shame that we continue to suffer Billion$ in economic (and environmental) loss so that some can make a few Million.