Posts Tagged ‘emerald ash borer’
Early Sprouts
Into the woods we headed, Cyndie with a plastic bag in hand, Asher and I tagging along randomly behind. It was a multipurpose jaunt to give Asher some free time outside, to take advantage of some welcome sunshine, and to eradicate as much invasive garlic mustard as possible.
We had just come from having pulled up a thick sheet of black plastic that had covered a poison ivy patch beside a pathway for two growing seasons. I thought we would find nothing but black dirt beneath, but there was a bleached-out layer of a dead, straw-looking mat of grasses that remained.
Since I tend to get overwhelmed when the invasives we are after show up everywhere I look, I let Cyndie focus on the garlic mustard, and I kept an eye out for vines on tree trunks. Even though I felt sure I had already scoured the area we were in for vines visible at the base of trees, I kept finding a remarkable number of cases.
During a pause in my efforts, the thought occurred to me that I should have taken a picture of what I was finding. The reason that hadn’t happened was that each time I would see vines, I jumped into action, yanking them off the tree and pulling up the other end from the dirt as far as I could before it broke. I think there is a fear that if I look away for an instant, I won’t be able to see it again when I look back.
I think vines might be shape shifters. There may be a secret technique to getting rid of them, though. It seemed to work for me. I decided to finally take that picture of them after thinking of it, and lo and behold, I wasn’t able to find a single instance of any more vines on trees in that area of our woods.
Speaking of that part of our woods, it is an area with a lot of ash trees, all of which are gradually succumbing to their inevitable demise via the emerald ash borer beetle. Have you seen what it looks like when an ash tree gets stressed?
They sprout sucker growth in a last gasp attempt to regenerate. Does this ever work for a tree? We don’t expect any of our ash trees to survive, but their demise takes a drawn-out 3-5 years. It’s an ugly thing to witness.
On a more beautiful note, the lawn of our backyard is sprinkled with more than just grass because we have little pink flowers that accent much of the slope, and the first blossoms of the year have begun to appear.
Thank goodness those little beauties haven’t been declared invasive and needing to be pulled by the roots. Our turf sports a natural look not found on sports fields and golf courses. Wildflowers are welcome here.
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Just Stuff
When on an expedition having nothing to do with society’s news of the day, one finds things of lesser significance can have a more dramatic impact than they otherwise might. With my mind protected from the gloom of current events during the last few months, I’ve found myself noticing more details about my immediate surroundings during daily walks.
The other day, I noticed some of our trees with an abundance of new shoots sprouting from the lower trunks. My intuition told me the trees were reacting to something, and when I figured out they were all ash trees, I knew what that was. The emerald ash borer is taking a toll on our region, and it seems our turn has come. I learned the new growth is called Epicormic Sprouts, revealing a tree’s effort to survive stress.
In addition, closer inspection revealed birds are chipping away at the outer bark to get at insects beneath. This gives the tree trunks an orange hue that makes them easy to spot from a distance. I was pointing it out to Cyndie yesterday, and we counted a handful of the largest affected ashes. I’ll be watching to see how long it takes them to die.
Meanwhile, we will continue to nurture new growth showing up in our oak, maple, elm, poplar, and spruce & pine tree populations.
This time of year, it is easier to spot the trees that have broken or tipped and are hung up in surrounding branches. The large poplar in this photo is a doozy. That break is probably 10ft(3m) or more up from the ground. I won’t be taking a chainsaw to this challenging widow-maker.
Several trees in the vicinity of that one broke off at a similar height. None of the others got hung up. Must have been an interesting gust of wind to cause that.
A couple of snow flurries ago, our driveway ended up looking rather bovine in appearance.
I gotta tell ya; it’s a lot easier to laugh or be mesmerized by the crazy things I see around me every day while on this expedition of avoiding that which would break my heart and spirit were I to give it a chance. I admit to feeling guilty about having the privilege that enables me to turn away while others must look straight at it all and will be receiving the brunt of abuses underway.
Even as I try to ignore it, there are blips of evidence that get through with hints of difficulties looming for the world.
I’m looking at our stressed forest and laughing at our second snow-starved winter in a row. I’m dreaming of a new shade sail for the horses and marveling over how the four Thoroughbreds are evolving as a herd of rescued former racers and broodmares. Just local stuff must be the focus right now for my fragile mind.
We will be voting with all our might at our upcoming Wisconsin election.
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Early Hints
In the wee hours of Monday morning, I stepped out on the deck at the lake to look for evidence of the Perseid Meteor shower. I had seen one meteor flash in the predawn hours a day earlier when looking through the bathroom window. It was the weekend of peak activity so I plotted to get a better view the next night. In roughly 10-12 minutes, I saw two streaks.
At 2 o’clock in the morning, that was not thrilling enough to keep me out of bed.
The arrival of the Perseids is a hint of the waning days of summer. Yesterday I noticed another early hint scattered on our driveway.
Those aren’t healthy green leaves that have fallen. The change in sunrise and sunset is just starting to be noticeable. The combination of these two phenomena amplifies the perception of the next season looming in our future.
Cyndie recently commented about how barren some spots on our forest floor are. I pointed out the areas of local farm fields where crops didn’t grow this year. The common factor in these areas is water saturation. Plenty of the low ground in our woods understory stayed so wet it drowned new growth.
I made two trips to River Falls yesterday, which took me past tree removal happening on the property of one of our nearby neighbors. They reported emerald ash borer was killing their big old ash trees. That’s an early hint of what is to come for ash trees everywhere around here.
My trek to River Falls was to consult with my doctor about two issues that I have failed to will away with wishful thinking. The shoulder I injured in a fall last February continues to give me enough pain and weakness that I need to find out if there is a tear that can’t heal on its own. More recently, I’ve started to experience pain that matches sciatica. The doctor suspects degenerating discs in my lower back are leading to pressure on the nerve.
I’ve got an appointment for an MRI to see what is going on in the shoulder, a prescription for a short round of steroids, and orders for physical therapy to address both the back and shoulder. Are my recent problems an early hint of my next level of aging?
News reports recently have featured a scientific study that claims people don’t age at a steady gradual rate. Apparently, we experience bursts of rapid aging in our mid-40s and early 60s. Oof.
The fact that I needed to show my new Medicare card at my clinic visit certainly helped to make me feel not as young as I used to be.
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Relative Something 