Month: July 2020

Abigail the Green Ash in Alexandria

July 30, 2020 - On July 22, DOF’s urban & community forestry (U&CF) manager Lara Johnson traveled to Alexandria, Virginia to visit a well-known green ash tree. This ash, located in a courtyard between two apartment buildings, is likely hundreds of years old and is one of largest ash trees in the nation.   Abigail (so named by property managers Mike and Olivia) is the current Virginia State Champion and was once the National... Read More

On the Wings of a Tiny Wasp

On the Wings of a Tiny Wasp

July 24, 2020 - The fate of Virginia’s stately ash trees might rest on the wings of a tiny wasp. For more than a decade, ash trees (Fraxinus genus) have been under threat from an invasive insect pest, the emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis) – EAB, for short. The larvae of this beetle feed on the phloem of ash trees, disrupting nutrient transfer. Native ash trees didn’t evolve with EAB, and its natural enemies aren’t here to... Read More