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Emerald Ash Borer in North Texas

If you have an ash tree around here, this is the insect worth knowing about right now.

What It Is

A Beetle That Kills Ash Trees

Emerald ash borer is a small beetle that goes after ash trees. Its larvae tunnel just under the bark, and those tunnels are what kill the tree.

Texas A&M Forest Service says infested trees usually die within two to five years, and where the beetle is well established it can kill an ash within a year of the first infestation. The Forest Service puts it this way: the beetle weakens a tree over the winter and kills it in the summer.

Where It Is

Confirmed In Collin And Grayson

As of June 2026, Texas A&M Forest Service lists forty confirmed Texas counties. Collin, Grayson, Dallas, Denton and Rockwall are all on the list. Fannin and Hunt are not, but both of them border counties that are.

Ash is one of the most common trees we work on out here, so this one is close to home. Collin County is under quarantine, which restricts moving ash wood and nursery stock out of the county. Quarantines are set by the Texas Department of Agriculture.

Read more from people who study this

Texas A&M Forest Service on emerald ash borer, including the confirmed county list

Texas A&M Forest Service, Emerald ash borer moves south, on the two to five year timeline

What It Looks Like

The Top Of The Tree Usually Goes First

These are the signs Texas A&M Forest Service lists. One of them alone doesn’t prove anything, but two or three together on an ash are worth a real look.

Dead branches near the top of the tree
Leafy shoots sprouting from the trunk
Bark splitting open, with S-shaped tunnels underneath
A lot of woodpecker activity on the trunk
Small D-shaped exit holes in the bark

What Arborwise Checks

First, Is It Even An Ash?

Plenty of trees get called ash that aren’t. We’d confirm what you have, look hard at the top of the canopy and the trunk, and walk any other ash on the property.

Whether it’s an ash at all
How much of the canopy is still full and healthy
What the trunk shows: shoots, splits, exit holes, woodpecker work
Whether the tree is worth protecting, or worth planning a removal for, in stages or all at once

Treatment exists. Texas A&M Forest Service recommends systemic insecticides with emamectin benzoate as the active ingredient, and says they can protect a tree for two to three years. Whether that makes sense for your ash depends mostly on how much canopy it still has. If it’s too far along, the right call is planning the removal, either in stages or all at once. After 20-plus years of looking at trees around here, the honest answer is usually clear once we’ve seen it standing in front of us. Walking your ash and telling you which one you have costs you nothing.

“If you have an ash and you’re not sure how it’s doing, send a photo of the top of the tree and one of the trunk. A quick look now beats an emergency call later.”Annie, the Arborwise™ owl

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Not Sure This Matches Your Tree?

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