Elm trees that resist Dutch Elm Disease

[Squaredy]

I was on holiday on the Isle of Wight last week and I couldn't help noticing the number of Elm trees.  Mainly they were just hedgerow trees, which I am quite used to, but it got me Googling, in case the Isle of Wight was a Dutch Elm Disease free area like the Isles of Scilly.  It turns out Wight does indeed have the disease and has been devastated like the most of the UK, but I found some fascinating stuff about disease resistant Elms that they have been planting on the island since the mid nineties.

 

I did not realise there are such varieties, but apparently Ulmus Lutece is not only fully resistant but also very good for the natural fauna such as the White-Letter Hairstreak butterfly.  If this is true this is great news, and maybe everyone else knows about this.  

 

Why do we not plant loads of these?  Maybe we do?  I am not a forester so I would love some of the forestry Arbtalkers to comment.  Anyone out there planting Ulmus Lutece all over the place?  5000 have been planted on the Isle of Wight and are looking promising apparently.  Here is the link: 

Elm Trees - Gift To Nature

GIFTTONATURE.ORG.UK

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Elm Identification: Click here for a handy guide from the lovely people at the Natural History Museum. Elms were once the characteristic mature trees across much of the Island’s...

By the way I am not totally confident about my ability to identify Elms and not mix them up with Hazel - so here are a couple of pictures:

 

 

  

[Khriss]

I do see resistant singular Elms in UK , dunno why,  they are just like the dead/dying ones next to them . K

[Stubby]

3 hours ago, Squaredy said:

I was on holiday on the Isle of Wight last week and I couldn't help noticing the number of Elm trees.  Mainly they were just hedgerow trees, which I am quite used to, but it got me Googling, in case the Isle of Wight was a Dutch Elm Disease free area like the Isles of Scilly.  It turns out Wight does indeed have the disease and has been devastated like the most of the UK, but I found some fascinating stuff about disease resistant Elms that they have been planting on the island since the mid nineties.

 

I did not realise there are such varieties, but apparently Ulmus Lutece is not only fully resistant but also very good for the natural fauna such as the White-Letter Hairstreak butterfly.  If this is true this is great news, and maybe everyone else knows about this.  

 

Why do we not plant loads of these?  Maybe we do?  I am not a forester so I would love some of the forestry Arbtalkers to comment.  Anyone out there planting Ulmus Lutece all over the place?  5000 have been planted on the Isle of Wight and are looking promising apparently.  Here is the link: 

Elm Trees - Gift To Nature

GIFTTONATURE.ORG.UK

---

Elm Identification: Click here for a handy guide from the lovely people at the Natural History Museum. Elms were once the characteristic mature trees across much of the Island’s...

By the way I am not totally confident about my ability to identify Elms and not mix them up with Hazel - so here are a couple of pictures:

 

 

  

What are the big buggers in Brighton ?  Some of them are huge .

Edited July 29, 2020 by Stubby

[Vedhoggar]

49 minutes ago, Stubby said:

What are the big buggers in Brighton ?  Some of them are huge .

Could be Elms, haven’t been there for a long time but back in the mid 1970s a lot of sanitation felling was undertaken in Brighton to try and save Elms from DED as the South Downs acted as a natural barrier as did the sea, so a better chance of it working there. 

[Squaredy]

1 hour ago, Stubby said:

What are the big buggers in Brighton ?  Some of them are huge .

Yeah Brighton have managed to stay free of DED so there are apparently 30,000 or more healthy mature Elms there, and I guess the majority are English and Wych Elm.  Must go and take the family to do an Elm tour there....how can I sell that to my little boys....?

[Stubby]

34 minutes ago, Vedhoggar said:

Could be Elms,

Oh they are . I meant what type .

[Will C]

@Squaredy Where abouts on my island did you come to?
 

The Ulmus Lutece elm do incredibly well over here, we have even had to thin a couple of copse of them after they have done far better than expected, last winter I felled half of a small group of early trial ones, they were aprox 25 year old, 35-40ft tall and about 10 inch dbh

 

[Will C]

I also think the hedgerow elms are getting bigger each time before they die off, it used to be 10ft ish they would die at, now it seems to be around 20 ft or so. I do wonder if some natural resistance is building, this is only a ponder and I have no evidence to prove it before anyone jumps on it as a load of carp.

[Squaredy]

1 hour ago, Will C said:

@Squaredy Where abouts on my island did you come to?
 

The Ulmus Lutece elm do incredibly well over here, we have even had to thin a couple of copse of them after they have done far better than expected, last winter I felled half of a small group of early trial ones, they were aprox 25 year old, 35-40ft tall and about 10 inch dbh

 

Well we stayed in a lovely quiet spot near the Needles (last drive on the right before the touristy stuff), but we visited a few areas of course.  Best of all we were able to have a drink and a meal in a pub.  Yes - IN A PUB!  Us poor Welsh are not allowed to do that in Wales yet....

[Will C]

That’s the best end of the island, the other end is full of bloody tourists ?

 

in fact the whole island if full of tourists and elms at the mo! 
 

hope you enjoyed our little rock.