Protect Landscape Ash Trees from Emerald Ash Borers

If you have one or more “high-value” ash trees in your lawn or landscape—trees that you really do not want to lose, trees on which you are willing to spend around $50 to $100 annually to keep—then you may want to learn how to protect them from the emerald ash borer, Agrilus planipennis. As of August 2026, the emerald ash borer (EAB) has been found in only one Mississippi county. This insect was first detected in the state in Issaquena County in July 2025. The emerald ash borer is a serious pest of ash trees that has already killed hundreds of millions of ash trees in the eastern United States. Effective treatments are available for protecting high-value landscape trees from emerald ash borers, but these treatments must be applied preventively in order to protect trees before they become seriously infested and damaged.

Emerald ash borers were first detected in the U.S. in 2002 near Detroit, Michigan, likely arriving from Asia in crates or pallets made from infested ash lumber. In the past 15 years, the pest has spread to 31 states, as well as portions of Canada. It attacks all species of ash but, fortunately, does not attack most other hardwood species (does attack olive trees and white fringe trees). Tree death is caused by the larvae tunneling in the inner bark and girdling the tree; there is no associated disease that is transmitted by EAB. Although EAB does spread under its own power, most adult beetles fly fewer than 2–3 miles from the tree from which they emerged, with a smaller portion of the population flying as far as 15 miles or so. But emerald ash borers can quickly and easily travel long distances in infested ash firewood or lumber, and the rapid spread of EAB is largely the result of human-assisted movement. It happens as easily as: “Honey, when we go camping down south this weekend, let’s take some wood from that ash tree we just had taken down so we can have a camp fire.”

This work is supported by Crop Protection and Pest Management, Extension Implementation Program grant no. 2017-70006-27200/project accession no. 1014037 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and should not be construed to represent any official USDA or U.S. Government determination or policy.

The information given here is for educational purposes only. References to commercial products, trade names, or suppliers are made with the understanding that no endorsement is implied and that no discrimination against other products or suppliers is intended.

Publication 3212 (POD-10-26)

Revised by Zia Williamson, PhD, Assistant Professor, Agricultural Science and Plant Protection, from the original by Blake Layton, PhD, Extension Entomology Specialist (retired).