Plant · P-148

White Ash

Fraxinus americana

White Ash tolerates a remarkably wide range of soil, moisture and light - it survives both drought and standing water, thrives from full sun to deep shade, and grows quickly once transplanted. Its tough, elastic wood has long gone into tool handles, oars, baseball bats and musical instruments, arguably the best all-around timber in this group. The catch has nothing to do with soil or weather: the emerald ash borer, an invasive beetle now spreading through many counties, kills an infested tree within three to five years, and keeping a specimen alive means a recurring trunk injection every two to three years for life. Where the borer has arrived, planting new ash is widely discouraged, and quarantine rules also restrict moving ash nursery stock and hardwood firewood out of affected counties.