ST. CHARLES, Ill. -- The City of St. Charles again is participating in the Legacy Tree Project, sponsored by Valent Professional Products. Currently, approximately 78 parkway ash trees are receiving five years of protection from emerald ash borer (EAB) with Valent’s Safari insecticide. St. Charles has been participating in the project since 2010 and is one of only a dozen communities in the U.S. selected for this partnership project.
Left unchecked, EAB is lethal to all native ash trees. In 2006, St. Charles was among the first sites in the state to have confirmed cases of EAB infestation. Now, EAB is widespread in the region and the epidemic is not expected to begin to wind down for five or six years. Untreated trees will die within one to three years of infestation. Even though St. Charles is one of the oldest infested areas, the trees that were treated as part of the Legacy Tree Project are growing well, with good color and full canopies.
There are approximately 5,400 ash trees located in City parkways in St. Charles, and many others located on private property. “The City has been very proactive in managing the EAB infestation,” said Peter Suhr, Assistant Director of Public Works. “To date, nearly 2,000 affected ash trees have been removed and protective treatment has been applied to approximately 200 trees.”
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