Emerald Ash Borer is in the Tulsa Metro:
Is Your Ash Tree Safe?
The threat we’ve been tracking for years has officially arrived in our backyard. The Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry (ODAFF) has officially confirmed the presence of the destructive Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) in neighboring Wagoner County.
Because these invasive beetles easily migrate across county lines, all Ash trees in the Tulsa Metro area are now at risk.
Ash trees account for nearly 10% of our local urban canopy. Without proactive intervention, an EAB infestation is 100% fatal to the tree. As Eastern Oklahoma’s first ISA Board Certified Master Arborist®, Chuck Ulrich and the team at Ulrich Tree Care are uniquely equipped to help you identify, assess, and protect your landscape before it’s too late.
How to Identify the Threat: Signs of EAB
The Emerald Ash Borer is a small, metallic-green beetle. While the adults chew harmlessly on leaves, their larvae burrow beneath the bark to feed on the phloem—the critical tissue that moves food and water throughout the tree. This process effectively strangles the tree from the inside out.
Look for these warning signs on your property:
Top-Down Canopy Dieback: Leaves at the very top of the tree will begin to thin, yellow, and die off first.
D-Shaped Exit Holes: When mature beetles emerge from the bark in late spring and summer, they leave tiny, distinctly D-shaped holes roughly 1/8-inch wide.
S-Shaped Galleries: If the bark begins to split or flake off, you will see winding, serpentine paths etched into the wood underneath.
Epicormic Shoots: Stressed ash trees will often sprout chaotic, bushy secondary branches around the lower trunk or base as a desperate survival mechanism.
Heavy Woodpecker Activity: Woodpeckers love EAB larvae. An unusual amount of bird activity stripping away outer bark (called "blonding") is a strong indicator of an active infestation.
Ulrich Tree Care's 3-Step Protection Plan
Don't wait for your tree to look sick. Because EAB can live inside a healthy-looking tree for a few seasons before visible symptoms emerge, preventative care is the only reliable way to save your canopy.
1. Certified Arborist Inspection:
We will perform a comprehensive, hands-on health evaluation of your ash trees. We'll identify the exact species, check for active boring pests, and determine if your tree is a good candidate for preservation.
2.Targeted Systemic Injections: Peak Protection.
For qualifying healthy or lightly impacted trees, we utilize the industry-leading ArborJet drill-plug-inject method. By injecting systemic protection directly into the tree's vascular system, we safely deliver internal defense that stops the larvae dead in their tracks.
3.Bi-Annual Monitoring: Ongoing Care.
A single specialized application provides robust protection for up to two full years. We keep your trees on a cyclical health schedule, tracking regional insect pressures to ensure they stay resilient season after season.
Save vs. Replace: We Know The Difference
Many standard tree services will rush to cut down a stressed tree. At Ulrich Tree Care, we believe in educating homeowners first. If an Ash tree has lost more than half of its canopy, it may be too late to save, and safe removal is required to protect nearby structures. However, if caught early, preventative treatment is often substantially more cost-effective than the thousands of dollars required for full tree removal and stump grinding.
A Note on Firewood: EAB spreads rapidly when infested wood is moved. Help us protect Oklahoma’s parks and neighborhoods: buy it where you burn it, and never transport raw firewood across county lines.
Protect Your Property's Value
Don't let an invasive pest claim your shade or threaten your home. Put 40+ years of professional arboriculture experience to work for your landscape.