Arborist Andrew Dahl speaks at Washington’s City Council meeting Tuesday. Photo by Sally Y. Hart

With the Emerald Ash Borer being found across Iowa, including in Washington County, the City of Washington had a tree survey conducted this fall. Andrew Dahl, an arborist at the University of Iowa and a member of the Washington Tree Committee, presented his findings at the recent Washington City Council meeting. In total there are 3,409 trees and 260 of those are ash. So, only about seven percent of Washington’s trees are ash. The tree type with the highest quantity on public property in town is maple at 683.

Dahl explained part of the project was to find the ash trees and to create a living document with all of the trees in town to help plan future plantings. Overall, regardless of species, Dahl found 70 trees severely declining, and about 20 that need immediate attention due to structure issues.

Find the full tree survey here.