Black Ash

Very hardy tree all the way up to Northwest Territories, Canada. Zone 2 or hardier. Has problems with pests. Is a little picky about p...Read Morelanting spot. Used to be a popular boulevard tree in Edmonton, Ab until all the trees started becoming diseased.

I bought one Black Ash sapling at a native plant nursery in southeast PA in 2011 and gave it to a land preserve, but the warden did not p...Read Moreroperly care for it by watering it and it died. In 2011, I found one large specimen in the Ash Collection at Morton Arboretum in Lisle, IL, planted near the little Du Page River. It was too close to the other ash species, needing more room. When I returned in 2017, I saw that the Arboretum had removed much of the ashes in the collection, including the Black Ash. I finally found in August 2017 a wild specimen, being a young tree about 25 feet high at Hibernia County Park in se PA, but it was way bent over because of being shaded by other bigger trees. Black Ash can make a good shade tree, adapting to regular landscapes. It grows about 2 to 3 feet/year and lives up to 100 years and grows in draining wet to moist soils. I like its foliage with its longer leaves and many leaflets with a beautiful texture like the similar-looking Blue Ash. Most common in the swamps of the northwoods of southeast Canada, MN, ME, and such northern states, down to eastern Iowa, northern IL, IN, OH, WV, PA, and NJ. Unfortunately, it is second most favoured after the Green Ash by the Emerald Bronze Borer. Looking for resistant wild trees is a good hope. Maybe can get some resistance genes from the similar Manchurian Ash if back crosses would work, as I know they can be hybridized at least once.

A tree of swamps and bottomlands. It's trunk bark is rather tight and furrowed but may be somewhat scaly. The compound leaves are 12" to ...Read More16" long. The tree can get quite tall ....from 40' to 80'.

This is also known as the Hoop, or Basket Ash. Short logs or planks when hammered repeatedly on the ends, split along the annual growth rings into thin sheets that can be cut into thin strips. These are used in making baskets, chair seats, barrel hoops, etc. Knotty burls on the trunk are made into veneers and fine furniture.