Healthy pockets, healthy elms: Well-wooded Hinsdale doesn’t have a tree protection program for its elegant, elderly American elms, so when altruistic homeowners on one northwest side block said they would personally pay to have parkway trees in front of their homes chemically injected by an independent contractor, village staff members okayed the idea.
Although there is no known cure for deadly Dutch elm disease and no foolproof protection, trees treated with properly applied thiabendazole or propiconazole containing fungicide may be protected for three years, according to information published by he Morton Arboretum Plant Clinic in Lisle.
The neighbors’ tree-treatment program will be monitored by the village, according to Bo Proczko, assistant manager, but there’s no indication Hinsdale will eventually fund such a pricey protection plan. Current costs are about $300 per tree, and repeat treatments are called for after three years.
Less well-heeled villagers will just have to hope their parkway elms stay healthy.