[Greenbuilding] Tree inoculation against Emerald Ash Borer

RT archilogic at yahoo.ca
Fri Apr 20 13:02:06 CDT 2012


On Fri, 20 Apr 2012 13:27:28 -0400, Steve Houlihan <sho11 at comcast.net>  
wrote:

> Maybe this explains why I can't buy ash hollow core doors anymore.


I kind'a doubt it. In fact, I would think the opposite to be the case.

The damage that Emerald Ash Borer does to the trunk is limited to the  
sapwood layer just under the bark.

The inch or so of sapwood on both Ash and Oak saw logs is pretty  
bland-looking and would likely be discarded anyway so I doubt that it  
would get used for veneer stock.

And since the heartwood of the saw log is for the most part unaffected,  
there's no reason it cannot be used and since thousands or millions of  
EAB-infected trees are being cut down annually, I would think that those  
manufacturers who use Ash for anything would have access to more logs than  
they could ever hope to put to use.

I suspect that it was just a case of mass market tastes (I've heard the  
phrase "the masses are asses" more than a few times) . They know "Oak" but  
Ash, not so much.

I would think that timber-framers would be lining up for the saw logs  
which are probably cheap like borscht right now with municipalities  
begging for options to keep them out of landfills.

Lighter than oak (beneficial when flopping the timbers around when doing  
the joinery and even more appreciated when raising the bents), just as  
strong and arguably more attractive in a Vivaldi vs Bach way.

-- 
=== * ===
Rob Tom
Kanata, Ontario, Canada

< A r c h i L o g i c  at  Y a h o o  dot  c a  >
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