Burnsville among first cities in the nation to use organic treatment to fight Emerald ash borer

Emerald ash borer (EAB) continues to kill ash trees in the Twin Cities, but citizens are fighting back. The Save Our Shade initiative is partnering with the City of Burnsville in response to the City’s commitment to preserve a large percentage of its public tree canopy from severe EAB infestation.  Injections with TreeAzin, an organic treatment, will be performed on trees at Burnsville City Hall free-of-charge on Thursday July 25th at 9:00 a.m. The treatments will be effective for two seasons before reapplication is needed.

While saving trees has economic and environmental benefits, much of the EAB conversation has focused on municipalities removing ash trees rather than saving them. City officials frequently cite homeowner concerns about pesticides and pesticide safety as justification for removing healthy trees. Now the City of Burnsville will be among the first in the nation to utilize a certified organic treatment option to protect trees from EAB. The product, known as TreeAzin, uses a natural insecticide derived from the seeds of the neem tree, which grows natively in India. Applied to the trees through a trunk injection, it is the only available organic treatment certified by OMRI for the control of EAB. While it has only recently come to the United States, TreeAzin has been the first line of defense for protecting ash trees throughout Canada for over six years.

Communities such as Ontario’s Oakville have been using this tool exclusively to protect trees from Emerald ash borer since 2006. Oakville has committed to protecting 75% of the public ash trees using TreeAzin: over 3,500 trees are treated in Oakville each year and the city has had a 99% success rate in keeping these trees alive.

Citizens are excited that another management tool for EAB is now available. “People have been requesting an organic treatment since EAB was discovered - we are happy it is now here,” says Brandon Gallagher Watson, an arborist with Rainbow Treecare. There are an estimated 937 million ash trees throughout forests, parks, and neighborhoods in Minnesota. In the Twin Cities alone, nearly one in five urban trees are ash, and the loss of this species will have a significant impact on the look and feel of our communities.

Contact: Troy Mason, Emerald Ash Borer Specialist

Rainbow Treecare

C: 612-741-5650

F: 952-252-0504

tmason@rainbowtreecare.com