New plantings replace ash trees

Tim Wirth

Groundskeeper Tim Wirth checks a young American Elm tree for straightness before backfilling dirt around it on a site west of the College of Design. Campus services crews are planting about 110 trees – nearly a dozen different species -- this summer to replace about 60 ash trees removed last fall and winter in preparation for the arrival of the emerald ash borer, dubbed "the green menace." This week, a dozen more ash trees in this same vicinity will be removed as part of the 10-year project. Wet slopes during the mild winter prevented crews from removing them as planned. Photo by Bob Elbert.