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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, July 25, 2013 | 8 www.oakville.ca Time is running out to treat your ash trees! 3 6:1 2:0 7:4 days hours minutes seconds Treat before August 31. Almost 180,000 ash trees in Oakville are at risk of dying from the Emerald Ash Borer, an invasive insect from Asia. EAB has killed tens of millions of ash trees in southern Ontario and the United States since its discovery in North America in 2002. EAB larvae eat the soft wood under the tree's bark, preventing the tree from moving water and nutrients between its roots and leaves, and killing it within one to three years. The Town of Oakville is treating approximately 6,000 town-owned trees on streets and in parks with TreeAzin, a biological insecticide. We need your help! Eighty per cent of Oakville's ash tree canopy is located on private property. Ash trees that are still healthy and structurally sound can be saved if residents choose to treat them. This summer could be your last chance to begin treating your ash tree before it becomes too heavily infested to be saved. If you have an ash tree on your property, it's important to take action now. Contact a certified arborist to assess whether your tree is suitable for treatment. The use of TreeAzin to treat ash trees from the threat of EAB is approved by Health Canada from June to August 31. Unfortunately, signs of EAB usually only become apparent once a tree is heavily infested. If more than 30 per cent of your ash tree's upper branches are dying back, it is likely too infested to treat effectively. To protect your safety and property, contact a certified arborist to safely remove the tree, and replace with a new tree. Leaving infested ash trees breeds more EAB which intensifies the problem. Dead trees may constitute a violation of the Property Standards By-law if they are considered high risk or dangerous. EAB only attacks true ash trees. In Oakville, green and white ash are the most common ash species, with blue and black ash more rare. Mountain ash and prickly ash have "ash" in their name but are not from the same species and are not susceptible to EAB. Identifying an ash tree: Help spread the word! Like the Oakville Canopy Club on Facebook or follow us on Twitter. For more information visit the EAB page at oakville.ca, call ServiceOakville at 905-845-6601 or email canopyclub@oakville.ca Ridged Bark: On mature trees (left), bark is tight and displays patterns of diamond shaped ridges. On young trees (right), bark is relatively smooth. Compound `Opposite' Leaves: Leaves contain 5 to 11 leaflets with smooth or toothed margins (tips). Leaflets are positioned opposite with one at the top.