Looking Back on Saving America’s Iconic Trees
Since 2017, Arborjet | Ecologel has been running our Saving America’s Iconic Trees program. This program is one of the ways we give back to the community, by treating large, old, or historic trees throughout the country to ensure their continued survival for future generations.
Why Old Trees Need Our Help
Older trees face numerous health risks, including invasive pests, nutrient deficiency, fungi, and stress brought on by the effects of climate change. While some trees can and have weathered difficult changes and advanced age while continuing to thrive, our patented and tested formulations can make that easier, especially when trees are dealing with new and novel threats such as emerald ash borer. It is also more beneficial to the environment to preserve old trees, which can capture larger portions of carbon and provide more shade and structure to soil than newly-planted young trees. To date, Arborjet has serviced over 300 trees, and more than 1,300 combined inches DBH.
How We Select Our Trees
We select trees that have specific cultural value. Some were planted a long time ago on important historical sites, such as two white ash trees at a 250 year old church in Franklin, TN and the oldest sycamore tree in Buffalo, New York. Others are planted at monuments and deserve protection, such as at the Empty Sky Memorial in New Jersey, constructed to commemorate the September 11th attacks.
Some of these are Champion Trees, that is, the largest measured tree of its species in a state. These trees have value from both a record-keeping level as well as preserving history, since many of these trees are very old.
Why We Visit Our Trees Often
These trees often require repeat visits, since the injectable formulations we use are only effective for a few years. This is certainly the case when treating ash trees, which are at risk of severe damage from emerald ash borer. We treated the champion white ash tree in New Jersey in 2017.
Nearly four centuries old, 81 inches in diameter, and 115 feet tall, this ash tree is also one of the largest in the country. Despite its age, it’s still susceptible to EAB, which is where we come in. By injecting this ancient tree with our TREE-äge formula, we are able to ensure its continued survival and health.
In 2023, we also treated champion ash trees in Williamsburg, Michigan, and Dummerston, VT.
Through preserving trees, we are preserving local character and history, as well as biodiversity.
If you have a tree you’d like for us to preserve, let us know at https://arborjet.com/saving-americas-iconic-trees/
