Beaconsfield to flight emerald ash border with Tree Canada donation

Aug. 25, 2014
Montreal.ctvnews.ca

The City of Beaconsfield is getting some help in its fight against the emerald ash borer.

Tree Canada has donated a biopesticide that will be used to treat at least 75 trees, part of a larger plan to prevent the destructive insects from infesting the city's trees.

Full of majestic, mature ash trees, Beaconsfield takes great pride in its trees, and caught the attention of Tree Canada.

“People here love their trees and the mayor and the council have taken certain measures to make sure that they protect trees against emerald ash borer,” said Michael Rosen, president of Tree Canada.

Beaconsfield has taken an inventory of its ash trees, done visual inspections, debarking and installed traps, which is why Tree Canada considers Beaconsfield a model community.

It's helping out by donating 20 litres of TreeAzin, a biopesticide that protects trees from the destructive pest.

A mere 20 litres can treat about 75 trees; one litre of treatment is worth $600.

“It's a liquid insecticide that will spread into the tree by the natural movement of the sap. We have drilled several holes to spread the product all over the tree,” said Bruno Chicoine of Antidote Arboriculture.

The emerald ash borer first appeared in the Montreal area in 2011, after making its way from overseas into North America.

“It was from Asia. It was brought over in what they think was palette material in Detroit. It was first discovered in Detroit, went all throughout Michigan, crossed easily the border into Windsor, then made its way up through southern Ontario,” explained Rosen.

Treating the trees in Beaconsfield is a preventative measure, since there are no confirmed cases of infected trees there, but there is one tree that's under the microscope.

“We will debark that tree in the fall and determine whether it's infected or not. If it is, that would be the first time that we've found EAB in Beaconsfield but I can't confirm it at this point,” said Beaconsfield Mayor Georges Bourelle.

The city isn't solely relying on the donation from Tree Canada to continue its fight against this destructive pest. It's set aside $40,000 to treat ash trees in the fall.

“This year we're planning on treating about 300 trees in Beaconsfield,” said Bourelle.

Treating one tree costs about $250, but the mayor said it's better to invest in protecting its trees than to ignore the potential threat and risk spending even more money to chop down infested trees and replace them.