Vernon Hills Branches Out to Find Replacement Trees

The Village of Vernon Hills plans to remove about 550 trees this spring that are infected with emerald ash borer, reports the Daily Herald. Approximately one-third of village-owned trees are ash trees.

Many other communities are also having to replace trees, but local nurseries are being cleaned out, leaving municipalities to look further from home.

At Tuesday's meeting, the village board passed a resolution to waive the bidding process and authorize the purchase of up to $72,000 worth of replacement parkway trees from Kendall Hill Nursery, which is located in Newark, about 60 miles southwest of Chicago in Kendall County.

In August 2010, the Illinois Department of Agriculture confirmed that Vernon Hills had an infestation of the emerald ash borer affecting thousands of trees, according to the village's website.

Emerald ash borer is a small, green beetle whose larvae chew their way through the cambium tissues of ash trees disrupting the flow of water and nutrients within the tree.