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American Elm cultivars

Started by runmca, July 11, 2018, 01:58:32 PM

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runmca

Hi-

Wondering if anyone has planted any dutch elm 'resistant' cultivars? I was reading about the National Elm Trial and seems like the 'Princeton' and 'New Harmony' varieties have been fairing well over the first 10 years. Looking for ideas to replace a few of my dying Ash trees.

John Mc

I've got two Princeton Elms that I planted about 8 or 9 years ago. Bought them from Home Depot: they were having a clearance sale, since they were not selling well at the time. When I bought them, they were about 1" diameter, and short enough that I could fit them in a minivan (ran the top up between the front seats, with the root ball near the tailgate).

They have done extremely well. They are now 10"+ DBH and becoming nice shade trees. No sign of disease (and I know the disease is in my area, because what few native American Elms are left in my woods die once they get beyond 4" DBH.

Here's one of them:


If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.   - Abraham Maslow

thecfarm

Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

John Mc

Quote from: thecfarm on July 12, 2018, 05:30:55 AM
A good spot for a chair.
Mostly there for scale. It was hard to judge the size of the tree without something near it...

But yes, it does make a nice spot to sit on a hot day.
If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.   - Abraham Maslow

runmca

That's a nice looking tree. I'm glad yours are doing well. Thanks for sharing the photo and info.

Quote from: thecfarm on July 12, 2018, 05:30:55 AM
A good spot for a chair.
Or maybe a hammock between the elm and is that a cedar behind it?


Clark

Many of the DED resistant American elm cultivars should be pruned annually to keep the tree growing well. Included bark, poor branch attachment angles, co-dominant leaders and multiple small limbs growing closely together are all common with these trees. If you don't stay on top of it, then the tree will develop life-shortening problems.

Jefferson is another variety to try. Prairie Expedition also shows promise.

This is the book on pruning young elm:

PRUNING BOOK

He has the same information on the web but in less succinct packaging.

Clark
SAF Certified Forester

John Mc

Quote from: Clark on July 16, 2018, 11:24:16 AM
Many of the DED resistant American elm cultivars should be pruned annually to keep the tree growing well. Included bark, poor branch attachment angles, co-dominant leaders and multiple small limbs growing closely together are all common with these trees. If you don't stay on top of it, then the tree will develop life-shortening problems.
Yeah, wish I'd paid more attention when I bought my two. They are healthy now, but have some issues which could have been corrected easily when they were young, had I known what I was doing at that point.
If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.   - Abraham Maslow

runmca

Thank you for the information Clark smiley_thumbsup

Klunker

Are these new cultivars the same as the American elm in form?
Clark mentions the need for pruning.
I'm wondering if they will have the wonderful "water fountain" shape that the American Elm has.

Clark

Klunker - They are genetically American elm and should produce the classic shape we all know. The problem with these trees is that they are genetically identical so whatever problems the original tree had, all of the trees cloned off it will also have them.

So the need to prune will vary from variety to variety but so far many of the dutch elm disease resitant varieties have less than ideal branching patterns. So they need to be pruned. Often.

Clark
SAF Certified Forester


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