Dakota Gardener: Hurry up and wait

Have you started planning your garden for this year? I’ve already seen the ads on social media, and the hardware store has their spring bulbs for sale.

Seems a bit early to me, but we should be optimistic. Spring will get here.

Have you figured out what trees you’re going to plant this year? My wife has been asking for a river birch for a long time, and I keep putting it off. Maybe this is the year we get one and put it in the ground.

Most people prefer doing the action, rather than just planning for it. Nevertheless, that’s often how life works out.

Hurry up and wait.

Ever since the emerald ash borer (EAB) was discovered in North America in 2002, that’s what we’ve been doing. Planning and waiting.

The planning part can be challenging – there are a lot of unknowns. One of the biggest questions is, “When will EAB get here?”

“Here” can be your county, community or even your own yard. And that’s the biggest unknown of all.

I’ve often told people, it could be five years from now, or it could be 25 years from now. How do we plan on such a large time scale, and one that’s so variable?

We start with an inventory. How many ash trees do you have? My wife and I have three in our yard.

Do you have one or more rows of ash in your shelterbelts? Having that information is critical.

Then we prioritize. Can trees be saved? Yes, certain insecticides, applied through stem injections, are very effective. They can also be a bit pricey.

Should every tree be saved? Absolutely not. Some trees are in very poor shape, structurally. They can have weak connections like double leaders, or they could be infested with rot. Those trees can be a bit dangerous and should be removed.

Also, treating every ash tree in a shelterbelt isn’t a very practical strategy. Quite simply, it’s too expensive. Current retail prices for treating ash trees with insecticide are $6 to $10 per inch of stem diameter (measured at 4.5 feet above the ground). Treatments are effective for two years.

In the long run, we’ll treat one tree in our yard, but that’s it. One of the ash trees lost a main branch during a storm several years ago. Though the tree survived, that wound has always been a weak spot. In the long run, that tree is a low priority for saving.

Inventory – check. Prioritization – check. Next step – diversification.

Because EAB’s timetable is unknown, a good strategy for diversification is to begin diversifying as soon as possible.

In my own yard, I’ve already planted a small Kentucky coffeetree near the damaged ash tree. When we finally remove the ash, the coffeetree should be well-established.

Another strategy that some communities have been doing is preemptive tree removals. Other communities are just starting. Removing the low-priority trees now gives us a chance to plant new and different trees that will already have several years of growth, once EAB does arrive.

That’s the “five to 25 years” that was mentioned earlier.

It’s a great strategy. We can take some action now.

Hurry up and wait.