Spring was late this year and so was Wayne White, arch foe of the Emerald Ash Borer.

It was May 8th when Wayne White made applied his first pesticide treatment in northern Illinois.

White drives his truck from Michigan to treat trees in Illinois and Wisconsin. He comes with the message that ash trees will die if they are not treated.

The first of two treatments consists of spraying the roots early in the leafing process.

White has treated about 11,000 ash trees and lost less than twenty.

Master Arborist Wayne White is licensed in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin.

Pretty good success rate, I’d say, even if he were not an advertiser.

He usually comes through town the fist week of June.

He sprays around the ash tree again, plus inserts the insecticide into the cambium layer of the tree.

I haven’t seen him so far, so you might still be able to get him to stop by your home and treat your ash tree.  His phone number is 1-877-SAVE ASH or 728-3274.

My guess is that it will cost you as much to cut a dead ash tree down as it will cost to save it.

And, it will take a long time for a replacement tree to grow large enough to provide shade.

White was off to treat Julie Richardson’s ash and then to Cedarburg, Wisconsin, where he has the city contract to treat all its ash trees.