Can early treatment save ash trees from the borer?

When I first wrote about my latest mission to help save ash trees that might be infested with the emerald ash borer, I began to feel as though I'd opened a hornet's nest.

I received numerous queries from local residents and city councilmen.

And I was surprised at responses from certified arborists and insecticide manufacturers throughout the United States, also in support of preventive treatment and care, citing measurable examples of success in saving ash trees infested by the pesky bug.

On Oct. 4, I was directed to a news item that appeared in the Wisconsin Urban Forestry Insider on Sept. 17.

A recent study and analysis of EAB management costs by Rich Hauer, professor of urban forestry, favors treatment of ash trees instead of the pre-emptive move to cut down trees along parkways and boulevards. You can read the entire article at dnr.wi.gov/forestry/UF/resources/Insider/20100917.htm.

Certainly, treatment costs money. And everybody's budget is tight. Yet, the labor to cut down trees and replace them with a mix of other species for the good of the environment costs even more money.

As homeowners with trees on our private property, the information is timely and reinforces what I've learned from certified arborists and residents in other communities in Michigan, Ohio, Illinois and Wisconsin.

Furthermore, since the borer is dormant now, we have time to take a breath. Neighbors and many neighbors in Naperville have begun can plan now to join forces by spring 2011 to treat trees at a cost savings.

By using vigilant and cooperative proactive measures, residents and the city's forestry section can help save many of the ash trees in our yards as well as the ones creating colorful canopies every autumn along neighborhood streets.

I appreciate your interest and willingness to become educated about the ash tree. Our community can't save every tree, but we don't have to lose all of them, either.

Here's a little exercise. Visit the observation deck high in the Moser Tower along the Riverwalk. You can climb up the tower with its 72-bell carillon on weekends through Nov. 21. The view is breathtaking, especially while many of the fall colors are brilliant.

Look out over our award-winning “Tree City” with the knowledge that roughly 20 percent of the trees in Naperville are ash.

Many ash trees are bright golden yellow in the fall and they are among the trees that lose their leaves first. Likely most of the yellow will be gone from view. Still, while you're up there, try to imagine our city without 20 percent of its trees.

The Moser Tower is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays and noon to 6 p.m. Sundays until Nov. 21. Admission is $3 for ages 5 and older; children 4 and younger are free. Visitors younger than 18 must be accompanied by an adult.

For information about the ash borer, Naperville ash trees, city codes and treatment reporting forms, etc., visit the City of Naperville's website at naperville.il.us/ashborer.aspx.

Musical interlude

On a high note, let me add something to first-time experiences, a topic I addressed in my last column.

At 7 p.m. Saturdays, Oct. 23 and Oct. 30, Naperville City Carillonneur Tim Sleep will perform the first “Scare-illon” concerts titled “Bats in the Belfry” on the Millennium Carillon.

The two identical one-hour Scare-illon concerts will feature both classical and popular music from “Harry Potter,” “The Phantom of the Opera,” “The Addams Family,” “Casper the Friendly Ghost” and “Funeral March for a Marionette (Alfred Hitchcock Theme).”

A live video feed from the playing cabin will be projected on a large monitor on the plaza in front of Moser Tower. The Naperville Park District also will provide Halloween treats for the audience.

Here's hoping everyone will play it safely for Halloween. While there's no ordinance in Naperville with times set for trick-or-treating, most families adhere to the longtime tradition of going door to door from 4 to 8 p.m., with younger children finished before dark.

Ÿ Stephanie Penick writes about Naperville. E-mail her at spennydh@aol.com.