Should You Remove An Ash Tree Or Can It Still Be Saved?
Ash trees put homeowners in a hard spot because the answer is rarely emotional. It has to be practical. If the canopy is thinning from the top down, bark is splitting, woodpecker activity is heavy, and the tree has lost a lot of live growth, removal may be the safest and most economical path. If decline is still limited and the tree is high-value in a good location, treatment may still be worth discussing.
What matters most is how much of the canopy is still alive, how quickly symptoms are advancing, and whether failure would threaten anything important. A large ash over a home, driveway, or public sidewalk does not get the same risk tolerance as one standing well away from targets in open space. That is why real recommendations should be based on condition and location together.
We try to be straightforward with homeowners here. If the tree still has a realistic future, we will say so. If you would be spending money to delay an inevitable removal by a short time, we will say that too. Good care starts with honesty.