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Parks and Rec taking steps to address ash borer infested trees

T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY This area of Edgebrook Drive is one of many across Marshalltown with infected ash trees in the city’s right of way. Parks and Recreation Director Geoff Hubbard said there are currently 182 right of way ash trees slated for removal within the current fiscal year.

The dreaded Emerald Ash Borer has made its way to Marshalltown, and in a city already reeling from losing thousands of trees to the 2018 tornado and especially 2020 derecho, the prospect of having to remove even more isn’t exactly a welcome one.

According to Marshalltown Parks and Recreation Director Geoff Hubbard, there are most likely between 500 and 600 ash trees within the city — about half are on the right of way between private properties and the roadway and are thus the city’s responsibility, and the other half are the property owner’s responsibility — and 182 right of way trees are slated to be taken down during fiscal year 2023 over multiple phases.

For the current fiscal year, which started July 1, Parks and Rec has a $120,000 right of way tree budget, and Hubbard predicts most if not all of it will be spent considering the current situation.

“I’m hoping that we get some decent bids so that I can use some of that extra money to start on stumps,” Hubbard said. “But we also need to save some of that money to set aside for emergencies.”

As the old saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and Hubbard urged residents with ash trees to either consider a pesticide treatment regimen if the trees are still in early phases of decay or have them removed if they are unsalvageable to prevent them from falling on a house and causing even greater damage.

Parks Supervisor and Arborist Kristin Titus called the arrival of the ash borer, which made its way here in 2018, as Marshalltown’s “third natural disaster” after the tornado and derecho. She also praised the local chapter of Trees Forever for all of its help in reforestation efforts around the community.

“That’s three really big disasters happening to our community and our urban canopy. That’s why we’re trying to get these out and take ones that have the dangers and get some replanting going,” Titus said.

Both Hubbard and Titus are encouraging homeowners with dead ash trees to get them removed as soon as possible, and because of the ash borer’s existence, Titus also recommended that anyone looking to plant trees explore options other than ash to avoid these complications.

“My biggest thing for our urban canopy is just diversity, diversity, diversity… Using more natives from our area and just making our canopy more diverse,” Titus said. “There are always things we can pick to diversify our canopy, and that’s what we’re trying to do within the city.”

The Marshalltown Parks and Recreation Department can be reached at (641) 754-5715.

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Contact Robert Maharry at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or

rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.

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