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  • Home
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  • Amanda's Garden Blog
  • Ask Amanda
  • Roses
    • Types of Roses
    • Easy Roses
    • Climbing Roses
    • Portland's Rose Test Garden
    • Rose Insects & Diseases
    • Pruning Roses
    • Rose Sawfly
    • Rose Bloom Balling
  • Pruning Basics 101
    • Pruning Tools
    • Winter Pruning
    • Pruning Grapes
    • Pruning Clematis
    • Prune Your Own Garden Registration
  • Lawn Basics
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    • Spring Lawn Care
    • Moss in Lawns
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  • Mulch & Mulching
    • Living Mulches - Groundcovers
  • Propagation
    • Growing Seeds Outdoors
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    • Hardening Off Plants
    • Taking Cuttings
    • Seed & Plant Catalogues
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    • Fall Garden Chores
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    • Sheet Mulching, Lasagna Gardening
    • Cover Crops
    • Composting
    • Compost Tea
    • Houseplant Winter Care
    • Hummingbirds in Winter
    • Winterize Your Garden
    • Ponds in Winter
  • Growing Food
    • Spring Veggie Gardening
    • Fall Veggie Garden Clean-up
    • Crop Rotation, Succession & Companion Planting
    • Harvesting
    • Growing Potatoes
    • Winter Veggie Gardening
    • Taming Tomatoes
    • Speeding up Tomato Harvest
    • Tomato Tips
    • Saving Tomato Seeds
    • Raspberries
    • Tomato Troubles
  • Plant Pests 1
    • Plant Pests Part 2 - Controlling Insects
    • Garden Inspections
    • Cloches
    • Helping Pollinators
    • Critters in the Garden
    • Black Sooty Mould
    • Brown Marmorated Stink Bug
    • Dogwood Anthracnose
    • Viburnum Leaf Beetle
    • Dormant Oil/Lime Sulfur
    • Japanese Beetles
    • Peony Blotch/Measles
    • Slugs & Snails
    • Horsetail, the Weed
    • June Beetle
    • Powdery Mildew
    • Soil Solarization
    • Rhododendron Leaf Spot
    • Plant Rusts
    • Black Knot
  • Container Growing
    • Choosing a Container
  • Feeding Plants 101
    • Fertilizers & Ratios
    • Nutritional Deficiencies & Toxicities
    • Organic Plant Food
  • Monthly Flower Arrangements
    • Christmas Wreaths
  • Plant of the Month
    • Spring Flowering Bulbs
    • Colourful Fall Plants
    • Abelia
    • American Sweetgum
    • Ash (Fraxinus) Trees
    • Astilbes
    • Azaleas, Deciduous
    • Aubretia, Rock Cress
    • Aucuba, Japanese Spotted Laurel
    • Autumn Crocus
    • Bear's Breeches
    • Beautyberry, Callicarpa
    • Black-eyed Susans
    • Bleeding Heart, Lamprocapnos spectabilis
    • Calla Lilies
    • Catalpas
    • Chinese Windmill Palm
    • Columbine
    • Chrysanthemums
    • Crocuses
    • Dahlias
    • Dawn Redwood
    • Daylily
    • Delphiniums
    • Devil's Walking Stick, Aralia spinosa
    • Doghobble, Leucothoe
    • Dwarf Alberta Spruce
    • Dwarf Burning Bush
    • Elderberries, Sambucus
    • Evergreen Clematis
    • English Daisies
    • Fawn Lilies, Erythroniums
    • Fall Asters
    • Flowering Currants
    • Flowering Quince
    • Fritillaria
    • Garden Peonies
    • Garden Phlox
    • Ginkgo biloba
    • Grape-hyacinths
    • Handkerchief or Dove Tree
    • Hardy Fuchsia
    • Harry Lauder's Walking Stick
    • Heathers
    • Heavenly Bamboo
    • Hellebores, Lenten roses
    • Himalayan Sweet Box
    • Hydrangeas, Mophead & Lacecap
    • Jack-in-the-pulpit, Cobra Lily
    • Japanese Anemones
    • Japanese Forest Grass
    • Japanese Maples
    • Japanese Skimmia
    • Japanese Snowbell
    • Japanese Spirea
    • Japanese Spurge
    • Kale, ornamental
    • Katsura Trees
    • Kousa Dogwood
    • Laurustinus viburnum
    • Lavenders
    • Lily-of-the-Valley Shrub, Pieris japonica
    • Mediterranean Spurge
    • Mexican Mock Orange
    • Montana Clematis
    • Mountain Ash
    • Oregon Grape Holly
    • Oriental Poppies
    • Oriental Lilies
    • Paperbark Maple
    • Pearl Bush
    • Persian Ironwood
    • Peruvian Lily, Alstroemeria
    • Phalaenopsis, Moth Orchids
    • Photinia, Fraser
    • Poinsettias
    • Primroses
    • Persian Silk Tree
    • Portuguese Laurel
    • Rose of Sharon
    • Saucer Magnolia
    • Shrubby Cinquefoil
    • Sneezeweed, Helenium
    • Snowberry
    • Snowdrops
    • Solomon's Seal
    • Star Magnolia
    • Strawberry Tree, Pacific Madrone
    • Stewartia
    • Torch Lily, Kniphofia uvaria
    • Tree Peonies
    • Tuberous Begonias
    • Variegated Wintercreeper
    • Viburnum, Pink Dawn Bodnant
    • Virginia Creeper
    • Weigela
    • Winterhazel, Corylopsis
    • Winter Camellia, C. sasanqua
    • Winter Daphne
    • Wintergreen, Gaultheria procumbens
    • Witch Hazel
    • Wood Anemones
    • Yews
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    • NW Horticultural Society July Garden Tour 2024
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Ash Trees (Fraxinus) 
​October's Plant of the Month

Majestic trees for Fall Colour

white ash,green ash,American ash,European ash,narrow-leaf ash,Fraxinus,colourful autumn trees,colorful fall trees,shade trees,emerald ash borer,city trees,shade tree
The green foliage of this ash tree has turned yellow under October's setting sun.
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It's difficult to miss this stunning white ash at the Hoyt Arboretum in Portland, Oregon.
Fraxinus americana 'Autumn Applause',white ash,green ash,American ash,European ash,narrow-leaf ash,Fraxinus,colourful autumn trees,colorful fall trees,shade trees,emerald ash borer,city trees,shade tree
A city lined street of 'Autumn Applause' white ash in Vancouver.
Picture
Narrow-leaf ash looks more delicate with its thinner foliage compared to other ash trees.
white ash,green ash,American ash,European ash,narrow-leaf ash,Fraxinus,colourful autumn trees,colorful fall trees,shade trees,emerald ash borer,city trees,shade tree
A parking lot planting of white ash in Bear Creek Park in Surrey, B.C. is displaying autumn colours.
Leprrechaun green ash,white ash,green ash,American ash,European ash,narrow-leaf ash,Fraxinus,colourful autumn trees,colorful fall trees,shade trees,emerald ash borer,city trees,shade tree
The leaves of a Leprechaun green ash. It is a dwarf cultivar reaching 20' x 20'.
'Cimmaron' green ash,white ash,green ash,American ash,European ash,narrow-leaf ash,Fraxinus,colourful autumn trees,colorful fall trees,shade trees,emerald ash borer,city trees,shade tree
'Cimmaron' is a green ash cultivar that grows to 60 feet and a 35 foot wide canopy. It is a seedless variety.
white ash,green ash,American ash,European ash,narrow-leaf ash,Fraxinus,colourful autumn trees,colorful fall trees,shade trees,emerald ash borer,city trees,shade tree
Autumn Applause white ash shows off its fall colours.
Fraxinus excelsior 'Pendula',weeping European ash,white ash,green ash,American ash,European ash,narrow-leaf ash,Fraxinus,colourful autumn trees,colorful fall trees,shade trees,emerald ash borer,city trees,shade tree
A weeping European ash at a estate in England. It only reaches 20 feet but it's crown spreads up to 50 feet.
'Autumn Purple' white ash,white ash,green ash,American ash,European ash,narrow-leaf ash,Fraxinus,colourful autumn trees,colorful fall trees,shade trees,emerald ash borer,city trees,shade tree
The immature pyramidal 'bones' of an Autumn Purple white ash.
Fraxinus angustifolia,white ash,green ash,American ash,European ash,narrow-leaf ash,Fraxinus,colourful autumn trees,colorful fall trees,shade trees,emerald ash borer,city trees,shade tree
Narrow-leaf ash grow to a majestic height of 80 feet.
​aCommon Name:  ash trees
Botanical Name:  Fraxinus spp.
Form:    upright tree with mostly round canopies
Family:  Oleaceae
Genus:  Fraxinus
Species: numerous including cultivars
Plant Type: deciduous tree, subtropical species are evergreen
Mature Size:  depends on the species
Growth: 2 feet per year, but grow slower as they mature and if crowded
Origin:  depends on species
Hardiness Zone: depends on species
Foliage:  opposite green leaves are pinnately compound
Flowers: some are dioecious (male and female flowers are on separate plants)
Fruit: samaras, keys, (seeds have wings)
Stems: flattened at tip
Exposure:  full sun
Soil:  well-drained organic rich soil, but is soil tolerant
Uses:  shade tree, street tree, birds
Propagation:   seeds, cuttings
Pruning:  late winter, but often it is not necessary
​Problems:  emerald ash borer is a serious pest that will kill the tree in 3 to 5 years, ash borers, scale, anthracnose
 
Ash trees (not to be confused with mountain ash (Sorbus), are coveted for their majestic beauty, brilliant autumn colours and for being effective shade trees. Their popularity is waning however, due to their arch nemeses, the emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis). It is a killer - if left untreated. Because of this destructive pest, many communities warn against planting ash trees. However, there are solutions to this pest. Tree service experts use an approved insecticide, imidacloprid as a soil drench or inject it into healthy trees. In British Columbia, this insect is not a serious threat, unlike the U.K. and Europe. The green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica) and the narrow-leaf ash (F. angustifolia) have shown some borer resistance.  
 
White Ash: Fraxinus americana, native to Eastern North America, USDA Zones 3 to 9, 60’ – 80’ tall and wide. It is one of the largest ashes. Prefers moist, rich well-drained loams but tolerant to slightly alkaline soils. Moderate tolerance to drought. Locate away from strong winds as their branches are brittle. Immature trees are pyramidal and mature to a rounded crown. Purplish non-showy flowers in April to May. Clusters of drooping seeds up to 2 inches long have wings (samaras, keys) on female trees. Leaves are pinnate compound with 7 oval or oblong leaflets 3-5” long. Foliage is dark green above and whitish green on the undersides. In autumn, leaves turn yellow and purple. Diamond shaped ridges appear on the grey mature trunks. White ash is used for lumber, furniture and sports equipment including the Louisville Slugger baseball bats.  
 
European Ash: Fraxinus excelsior, native to Europe and western Asia, USDA Zones 5 to 7, 50 to 60’ x 40 to 50’. Prefers well-drained rich loam in full sun. Prefers cool summers and dislikes hot and dry climates. An oval crown with 8 to 14 inch long pinnately compound leaves with 7 to 13 leaflets. Leaflet margins are elliptical and coarsely serrated. Yellow autumnal colour. No significant flowers. Bark is smooth and grey on immature trees then becomes deeply ridged as trees mature. Black buds are a distinguishing feature.
 
Green Ash: Fraxinus pennsylvanica, native to North America, USDA 3 to 9, 50-70’ x 35-50’. Prefers well-drained, organic rich moist soils in full sun. Immature trees are pyramidal and mature to roundish crown. Similar to white ash but the leaves are serrated at the ends, and are green underneath and petioles (leaf stems) are winged. Leaves turn bright yellow in autumn. Flowers appear after the foliage in spring. Purple flowers in spring followed by profuse clusters of weeping samaras up to 2 inches long. Seeds are viable resulting in seedlings. Bark is greyish brown that matures to diamond-shaped ridges. Wood is used for lumber, furniture and sports equipment. Green ash have shown some resistance to emerald ash borer.
 
Narrow-leafed Ash: Fraxinus angustifolia, native to central & southern Europe, northwest Africa, southwest Asia, USDA Zones 5 to 8. Grows quickly, 80’x 30 – 50’. Prefers acidic soils. Smooth grey bark becomes deeply ridged with age. Foliage comprised of green, narrow, lance-shaped, 7 to 13 leaflets that turn yellow in autumn, pale brown buds rather than black ones. It has a slightly greater resistance to the emerald ash borer. 
bark of European ash,white ash,green ash,American ash,European ash,narrow-leaf ash,Fraxinus,colourful autumn trees,colorful fall trees,shade trees,emerald ash borer,city trees,shade tree
The immature bark of a European ash.
white ash,green ash,American ash,European ash,narrow-leaf ash,Fraxinus,colourful autumn trees,colorful fall trees,shade trees,emerald ash borer,city trees,shade tree
The pinnately compound foliage of an Autumn Applause American ash.
'Autumn Applause' American ash,white ash,green ash,American ash,European ash,narrow-leaf ash,Fraxinus,colourful autumn trees,colorful fall trees,shade trees,emerald ash borer,city trees,shade tree
'Autumn Applause' is an American (white) ash cultivar that turns brilliant colours in fall.

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  • Home
  • About, Services, Contact
  • Amanda's Garden Blog
  • Ask Amanda
  • Roses
    • Types of Roses
    • Easy Roses
    • Climbing Roses
    • Portland's Rose Test Garden
    • Rose Insects & Diseases
    • Pruning Roses
    • Rose Sawfly
    • Rose Bloom Balling
  • Pruning Basics 101
    • Pruning Tools
    • Winter Pruning
    • Pruning Grapes
    • Pruning Clematis
    • Prune Your Own Garden Registration
  • Lawn Basics
    • Lawn Reno, Seed & Sod
    • Lawn Maintenance Schedule
    • Spring Lawn Care
    • Moss in Lawns
    • Lawn Alternatives
    • Lawn Grub Control
  • Mulch & Mulching
    • Living Mulches - Groundcovers
  • Propagation
    • Growing Seeds Outdoors
    • Growing Seeds Indoors
    • Hardening Off Plants
    • Taking Cuttings
    • Seed & Plant Catalogues
  • How to Garden Topics
    • Fall Garden Chores
    • Planting Know-How
    • Soil Building
    • Soil pH
    • Watering Tips & Techniques
    • Drought Gardening
    • Sheet Mulching, Lasagna Gardening
    • Cover Crops
    • Composting
    • Compost Tea
    • Houseplant Winter Care
    • Hummingbirds in Winter
    • Winterize Your Garden
    • Ponds in Winter
  • Growing Food
    • Spring Veggie Gardening
    • Fall Veggie Garden Clean-up
    • Crop Rotation, Succession & Companion Planting
    • Harvesting
    • Growing Potatoes
    • Winter Veggie Gardening
    • Taming Tomatoes
    • Speeding up Tomato Harvest
    • Tomato Tips
    • Saving Tomato Seeds
    • Raspberries
    • Tomato Troubles
  • Plant Pests 1
    • Plant Pests Part 2 - Controlling Insects
    • Garden Inspections
    • Cloches
    • Helping Pollinators
    • Critters in the Garden
    • Black Sooty Mould
    • Brown Marmorated Stink Bug
    • Dogwood Anthracnose
    • Viburnum Leaf Beetle
    • Dormant Oil/Lime Sulfur
    • Japanese Beetles
    • Peony Blotch/Measles
    • Slugs & Snails
    • Horsetail, the Weed
    • June Beetle
    • Powdery Mildew
    • Soil Solarization
    • Rhododendron Leaf Spot
    • Plant Rusts
    • Black Knot
  • Container Growing
    • Choosing a Container
  • Feeding Plants 101
    • Fertilizers & Ratios
    • Nutritional Deficiencies & Toxicities
    • Organic Plant Food
  • Monthly Flower Arrangements
    • Christmas Wreaths
  • Plant of the Month
    • Spring Flowering Bulbs
    • Colourful Fall Plants
    • Abelia
    • American Sweetgum
    • Ash (Fraxinus) Trees
    • Astilbes
    • Azaleas, Deciduous
    • Aubretia, Rock Cress
    • Aucuba, Japanese Spotted Laurel
    • Autumn Crocus
    • Bear's Breeches
    • Beautyberry, Callicarpa
    • Black-eyed Susans
    • Bleeding Heart, Lamprocapnos spectabilis
    • Calla Lilies
    • Catalpas
    • Chinese Windmill Palm
    • Columbine
    • Chrysanthemums
    • Crocuses
    • Dahlias
    • Dawn Redwood
    • Daylily
    • Delphiniums
    • Devil's Walking Stick, Aralia spinosa
    • Doghobble, Leucothoe
    • Dwarf Alberta Spruce
    • Dwarf Burning Bush
    • Elderberries, Sambucus
    • Evergreen Clematis
    • English Daisies
    • Fawn Lilies, Erythroniums
    • Fall Asters
    • Flowering Currants
    • Flowering Quince
    • Fritillaria
    • Garden Peonies
    • Garden Phlox
    • Ginkgo biloba
    • Grape-hyacinths
    • Handkerchief or Dove Tree
    • Hardy Fuchsia
    • Harry Lauder's Walking Stick
    • Heathers
    • Heavenly Bamboo
    • Hellebores, Lenten roses
    • Himalayan Sweet Box
    • Hydrangeas, Mophead & Lacecap
    • Jack-in-the-pulpit, Cobra Lily
    • Japanese Anemones
    • Japanese Forest Grass
    • Japanese Maples
    • Japanese Skimmia
    • Japanese Snowbell
    • Japanese Spirea
    • Japanese Spurge
    • Kale, ornamental
    • Katsura Trees
    • Kousa Dogwood
    • Laurustinus viburnum
    • Lavenders
    • Lily-of-the-Valley Shrub, Pieris japonica
    • Mediterranean Spurge
    • Mexican Mock Orange
    • Montana Clematis
    • Mountain Ash
    • Oregon Grape Holly
    • Oriental Poppies
    • Oriental Lilies
    • Paperbark Maple
    • Pearl Bush
    • Persian Ironwood
    • Peruvian Lily, Alstroemeria
    • Phalaenopsis, Moth Orchids
    • Photinia, Fraser
    • Poinsettias
    • Primroses
    • Persian Silk Tree
    • Portuguese Laurel
    • Rose of Sharon
    • Saucer Magnolia
    • Shrubby Cinquefoil
    • Sneezeweed, Helenium
    • Snowberry
    • Snowdrops
    • Solomon's Seal
    • Star Magnolia
    • Strawberry Tree, Pacific Madrone
    • Stewartia
    • Torch Lily, Kniphofia uvaria
    • Tree Peonies
    • Tuberous Begonias
    • Variegated Wintercreeper
    • Viburnum, Pink Dawn Bodnant
    • Virginia Creeper
    • Weigela
    • Winterhazel, Corylopsis
    • Winter Camellia, C. sasanqua
    • Winter Daphne
    • Wintergreen, Gaultheria procumbens
    • Witch Hazel
    • Wood Anemones
    • Yews
  • Garden Tours & Such
    • NW Horticultural Society July Garden Tour 2024
    • Burnaby in Blooms
    • Burnaby's Century Gardens
    • South Delta Garden Club Tour 2023
    • Garden Club Events
  • Website Index
  • May Garden Chores 2025
  • Subscribe
  • Need Help?
    • Gift Cards