Do Autumn Purple Ash trees drip sap?

[Second Gear Sean]

If so, is it bothersome to cars parked underneath? We're looking at planting some in a 20 foot parkstrip. Good or bad idea? Anything else I should know about it?

Thanks!
Sean

[VoodooChile]

Where are you located? Planting any Ash tree is a bad idea if you are located in Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio, thanks to Emerald Ash Borer.

Never heard of Ash sap being a problem.

[Second Gear Sean]

I'm in northern Utah. I haven't heard that ash borers are a problem here, but I'll check into it. Thanks for your reply.

[VoodooChile]

So far EAB has proven to be a regional infestation, limited to the mid-West and the East Coast.

The insect is supposedly only able to fly between 1/2 to 6 miles in a life cycle, depending on which entomologist you believe. The pest originated in south-east Michigan, arriving in packing crates from China. It spread from south-east Michigan into Northwest Ohio through the movement of infested nursery stock and contaminated firewood. Northwest Ohio is a big supplier of nursery stock for the Chicagoland region, and that is probably how EAB wound up there. It moved into my home state the same way, in somebody's trunk full of firewood on the way up north for a camping trip, or in a load of infested nursery stock.

Education efforts are now in full-swing, in an attempt to prevent people from moving contaminated firewood from state to state. Nursery-stock quarantines are also in effect in counties where EAB has been found. It is hoped that these measures can limit or slow the spread of EAB.

Control measures for EAB are few. The pest has no natural predators in the U.S. Our native ash trees haven't co-evolved to resist it, although Asian ash species do have resistance, and there is some hope that by crossing Asian and North American ash species an EAB resistant hybrid can be developed. Systemic insecticide treatments like injection with Merit have provided some protection as a prophylactic, but once a tree is attacked by EAB it is pretty much a goner. The slash and burn approach which the Federal Government mandated and funded in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana, proved a failure, and has been abandoned by most municipalities.

Long term it is difficult to say how this will pan out. In Wisconsin, there are 770 million native ash trees, and I believe members of this genus are found in most states of the country. It is impossible to protect these native stands of Ash, so the pest will be able to feast unchecked, and slowly work its way west. Without a doubt, the spread will be helped by humans too callous or clueless to care.

Here are some links to other GTX threads about EAB.
http://www.groundtradesxchange.com/forums/softscaping-landscaping/7036-emerald-ash-borer-wi.html
http://www.groundtradesxchange.com/forums/softscaping-landscaping/4974-emerald-ash-borer.html
http://www.groundtradesxchange.com/forums/softscaping-landscaping/3485-heads-up-indiana-tree-killing-bug-has-invaded-carmel.html

I think you are safe planting Autumn Purple Ash in Utah, at least for the next 5-10 years.

[Second Gear Sean]

Good info, thanks!

[mdvaden]

Aphids ?

Are these the Raywood Ash?

Turn purplish maroon in autumn with fine textured lanceolate leaves?

[VoodooChile]

Not aphids. Emerald Ash Borer. A good example I guess of how EAB is still a regional problem. Anyway, follow the links for some good journalism on the problem.

Not Raywood Ash. 'Autumn Purple' Ash is a named and well-known cultivar of Fraxinus americana, White Ash. It is a staple street and landscape tree in the midwest, much loved for its redish-purple fall color.