Ash Tree Removal in McKinney, TX

Ash tree removal in McKinney became a bigger topic in June 2024, when the Texas A&M Forest Service announced that emerald ash borer had been confirmed in Collin County from beetle samples collected that May. By June 2026 the Forest Service listed 40 Texas counties with the beetle, including Dallas, Denton, Grayson and Rockwall around us. Green ash and other ash species were planted widely in North Texas yards and along creeks, and the borer kills nearly every untreated ash it infests.

Signs of emerald ash borer

• Dead and thinning branches at the top of the crown.
• Leafy sprouts growing from the trunk or base.
• Vertical bark splits showing S-shaped tunnels underneath.
• Heavy woodpecker activity that strips patches of bark.
• D-shaped exit holes about one-eighth inch wide.

Early infestations can show no outward signs at all. Adult beetles, metallic green and about half an inch long, fly from about May to June.

Treat or remove?

The Forest Service says ash trees you want to keep can be protected with systemic insecticides containing emamectin benzoate, injected by a trained professional, which protect the tree for two to three years per treatment. Extension guidance generally limits treatment to trees with less than about 30 percent canopy loss; past that, success drops. Pesticide application on trees for pay requires a license from the Texas Department of Agriculture. A healthy, well-placed ash shading the house may be worth treating; a declining one, a tree with other defects or one in a poor spot is usually better removed.

Why timing matters

Ash dies fast once infested, and dead ash dries out and becomes brittle. A tree that could be climbed and taken down in sections while alive can become unsafe to climb within a year or two of dying, which may mean a lift or crane and a higher price. Removing a declining ash before that point is safer and usually cheaper.

Handling the wood

Collin County is under a Texas Department of Agriculture quarantine on moving ash wood out of the county, and emerald ash borer can survive in cut wood for up to two years. The Forest Service advises chipping, burning or burying infested wood where the tree stands. We chip ash on site and do not haul ash logs out of the quarantine area. If you keep firewood, burn it on the property.