Would You Plant An American Elm?

I would love to plant a couple of these beautiful trees but wonder if they are still threatened by Dutch Elm Disease?

I'm in Michigan.

Brenda

Yes, they are; and yes, I would plant them. But not where I couldn't afford to lose them. There is a famous old epitaph for a spouse that reads "It is a fearful thing to love what death can touch."

In critical landscape areas you could select one of the disease-resistant Asian hybrids from the Morton Arboretum, or one of the fairly resistant Americans from the breeding programs at the National Arboretum, the University of Wisconsin, or probably several other places. I predict that others will join this thread soon with more specific suggestions.

Guy S.

You could try but th threat is still there.

How be you Loon!

Yes Loon, I would plant an Elm. Try The Botany Shop. They're selling Valley Forge, New Harmony, and Princeton. I have every one.

Would I plant the straight species American Elm- no. I so hate to see my dollar bills flying off with little wings attached to them. Unlike Chestnuts where very few are left standing, there are still American Elms to be found here and there. I still wouldn't play with fire though. I'd go for one of the above.

http://www.botanyshop.com/

What about the Liberty elm? Anybody have experience with it? http://www.libertyelm.com/about.htm

This message was edited Aug 15, 2006 6:44 AM

Have you ever heard of American Elm Tree (Ulmus)? I bought two on Ebay. Is this one of the disease resistant varieties? They were not expensive.

I won't plant them where I have to count on them surviving. I will also try to look for some of those other varieties that you mentioned. Thanks so much. The ad on Ebay said these will live for 300 years. I kind of like the idea of planting something that might get to live that long. I love all my ash trees and keep praying that stupid borer bug will develop a taste for something else. I have some of the most stunning trees. They kind of remind me of elms.

I have so much to learn about trees. This is my favorite forum of all of them.

Um, I suppose they could theoretically live to be 300 years old but that's the American Elm you just bought and the likelihood of it surviving for that long would be very questionable. DED is still out there and it is still taking its toll on Ulmus americana. Best to go with DED resistant Elms. Some even have some of the U. americana dna in them.

Thanks Equil, I will look at the Botany Shop and order the species you recommended. How old are yours and which is your favorite so far?

Go for the 'Valley Forge'. They're all nice and I've been planting them here as fast as I can get my hands on them so that in the years to come I can hopefully discern which are and which aren't DED resistant for me. I suspect they should all do fairly well based on the research I've read as well as successes others are having. I used to have American Elm here and I do still have one left standing but I decided to quit treating it (mucho $$$) as I came to the realization I was merely staving off the inevitable. Better to plant DED resistant for me.

I've also been planting Chestnuts here. Some have some of the original American Chesnut dna in them. Mine are all holding strong so far. I pick those up at OIKOS.

Loon: good luck with your new seedlings, I hope they live a long time. Ebay sellers aren't always the most credible experts, as in, they only tell you their selling points. But, I think it's great you're giving American Elms a try.

I have a few transplanted Elm seedlings, growing out of the sidewalks, from the Laurelhurst neighborhood of Portland, OR. I assume they are American Elm. I don't know whether they are DED resistant, or even whether Dutch Elm Disease has reached the Pacific Northwest! Does anyone know whether DED has reached the west coast?

This message was edited Aug 15, 2006 2:03 PM

Me, no, I wouldn't - but that's because American Elm can't cope with the cool-summer climate here.

Unfortunately, there don't appear to be any DED-resistant Wych Elms around.

Resin

I read somewhere that the tree most often being planted to replace EAB killed ashes in urban areas are DED resistant elms, which would be kind of cool if it's true.

Buying American elms or DED resistant elms is a bit tricky because some are all American, some are hybrids, and some named varieties have no American in them at all. Here is a pretty cool website I found with some decent information: http://www.elmpost.org/

Also, I found if you Google specific cultivars as such: Ulmus americana "Valley Forge" that you can usually get some decent information regarding its heritage from one of the websites on the first screen.

Regarding the American chestnut. The trees on the market now and being sold as American chestnuts will usually be at least 3/4 American or possibly 7/8 American. Some could even be 100% American. Two different groups are at work trying to breed resistance in this tree. One started with a cross between a American chestnuts and Chinese chestnuts and has been backcrossing the progeny with Americans again and again, trying to get as much of the Chinese lineage out except for the blight resistance. The other group is breeding the most resistant Americans they can find and hoping that Tree A with some resistance and Tree B with its own resistance will add up to Tree C, which will have greater resistance than either parent. Time will tell.

Either way, I think it is a great thing to plant elms or chestnuts if you have the dime, the time, the space, and the intestinal fortitude to deal with rolling the dice and sometimes losing.

Scott

You should consider a Canadien/Canadian Elm.
Their species is Ulmus thomasii, but their specie is the Loony.
Larry

Loony = $0.90 Chase/Federal Reserve Dollar

Well since my last name really is LOONEY maybe I should give that Canadien Elm a shot. Ha!!!

Thanks everyone for your great ideas. I have enough room to probably plant all the species mentioned and let the strongest man ,,,,,,,,,,,er,,,,,,,,tree stand.