Are There Ash Trees in My Neighborhood?

If you live in Chicago you probably have a lot of street parkway ash trees in your neighborhood. There are about 43,000 of them along our city’s streets or about 900 in every ward.

The easiest way to identify them is to look for the metal tags the Bureau of Forestry attached on the street side. The tags show the number Forestry assigned to that tree and in the center the date the tree was treated.

They are supposed to be treated every two to three years and they haven't been since 2018, so they are very overdue.
Lack of treatment means they are all infested with Emerald Ash Borer to varying degrees and will die in the next three years if they are not treated.

Bureau of Forestry treatment tag on street side of tree

Bark

Ash Trees have bark with a pattern that looks in some spots like a repeating X. Most of the ash trees in Chicago are green or white ash.

Leaves

These are ash tree leaves. The whole stem with all its leaflets is considered one leaf.

 Fun fact: they are called Green and White because the underside of the leaflet is green for a Green Ash and whitish for a White Ash.

Now you know what to look for to find the ash trees in your neighborhood - take a walk and keep an eye out for those Forestry tags.

Then call or write your alderperson and tell them to save your ash trees! 🌿