Ash Tree Removal in Buffalo, NY

Ash tree removal has become one of the most common jobs in Erie County since emerald ash borer arrived. The beetle was first confirmed in the county in June 2011, when a park worker spotted adults on a small group of ash in South Park, and that same year it was found near the airport in Lancaster. Its larvae tunnel under the bark and cut off the flow of water and nutrients, and once a tree is heavily infested it declines quickly. With roughly one in five trees in the county an ash, according to a 2016 report, the beetle has reshaped parks, streets and back yards across the region.

Is your tree an ash?

Ash branches and buds grow in opposite pairs, not staggered. Each leaf is compound, with several leaflets along a central stem, usually five to nine. The bark on a mature tree forms a tight diamond pattern of ridges. If those three things match, you almost certainly have an ash, and if it is still alive in Erie County, it is either being treated or it is on borrowed time.

Signs of borer damage

The first sign is often thinning at the top of the crown, with smaller and fewer leaves. Woodpeckers chip away the outer bark hunting larvae, leaving pale patches on the trunk. Vertical splits open in the bark, clumps of sprouts appear along the trunk and at the base, and leaves may brown and drop early in late summer. Under loose bark you may see S-shaped tunnels, and the beetles leave small D-shaped exit holes.

Why waiting makes it harder

A live ash with sound wood can be climbed and rigged like any other tree. A dead ash is different. The wood dries, turns brittle and snaps instead of bending, branches drop without warning, and the trunk may not safely hold a climber or the force of a lowering rope. A removal that a climber could handle in one season can, two or three years later, need an aerial lift or a crane, and that costs more. If a declining ash can reach your house, your driveway or the street, the cheapest time to take it down is usually now.

Treat or remove?

Ash that are still mostly healthy can sometimes be protected with insecticide treatments applied by a state-certified pesticide applicator, and several towns here have chosen to treat their best ash, Amherst among them. Treatment is ongoing, though, and does not bring back a crown that is already mostly gone. We will tell you honestly which of your ash are worth asking a treatment provider about and which are past saving.

What happens to the wood

New York restricts moving untreated firewood more than 50 miles from its source, a rule put in place largely because of this beetle. Ash from your yard stays local: chipped, left with you as firewood, or taken to local processing.