Elm trees

[face cord]

With possibility of ash die off was looking if it was possible to get some resistant elms planted as ther used to be loads locally & with the possibly of most ash dying I thoughy would be nice to have some elms back...

 

But seems that they are really expensive to buy, & I only found one place selling trees & there 100 quid each!

 

Deciduous Tree, Acer Maple, Prunus, Betula pendula, Sorbus aucuparia, Quercus robur Trees Supplier - King Co

 

Its seems a shame imo there isn't more of a goverment funded scheme etc in UK to develop & replant resistant elms.

 

Dutch elm disease - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Some of the resistant cultivars are pantented also?

 

Seem wrong to pantent plants..

 

Plant breeders' rights - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

If these tests are passed, exclusive rights are granted for a period of 20 years (or 25 years, for trees and vines).

 

Maybe non of theese cultivars are 100% proven resitant yet so it isn't worth replanting until there more proven?s

[MattyF]

Hedge row elms around here are getting more resistant.. They are double the getting double the dbh than 10 years ago before they die I even know of a few healthy woods!! But saying that I have felled 20+ of the original survivors in the last 3 years, big trees and a real shame can't work out why they curled up and died now.... When I was a kid I can remember felling ( well me in the tractor!) with my father.... Where I live was proper elm country though.. I would like to think in a 100 years all the suckers would have built a very large resistance to it and some of the above woods seem to be proving that.

[Ty Unnos]

Been working today in a woodland that has 100's of young elm. All seem healthy and some are getting on in size.

 

Only doubt I have is could they all be wych elm? Is there a simple way to tell the wych and field elm apart?

[David Humphries]

Hedge row elms around here are getting more resistant.. They are double the getting double the dbh than 10 years ago before they die I even know of a few healthy woods!!. Where I live was proper elm country though.. I would like to think in a 100 years all the suckers would have built a very large resistance to it and some of the above woods seem to be proving that.

 

Interesting Matty,

 

Are any of these public access woods ?

 

 

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[nepia]

Been working today in a woodland that has 100's of young elm. All seem healthy and some are getting on in size.

 

Only doubt I have is could they all be wych elm? Is there a simple way to tell the wych and field elm apart?

 

 

Have a look at the leaves: Wych Elm's is fatter with a distinct form to the tip but the difference isn't huge and once you've allowed for natural variation there's not a lot in it.

 

And don't think that because 'it's Wych Elm, not English' the wood isn't of value: I have this very day sold an 8' x 14" piece for milling.

[agg221]

You have to be careful with 'resistant'.

 

There are three or four propagation programmes I'm aware of, three in the UK, one in the US. The two UK programmes I have details of have both been based on the presumption that large trees surviving today must be resistant. This doesn't mean they've been tested, so it's a bit of pot luck - did they survive because they were resistant or were they just lucky? Like MattyF I've seen several of the original survivors beginning to suffer. One died, one has come back having lost its top, too early to say on the others. The American propagation programme has been genuinely testing resistance, but this isn't with the English species.

 

There is value in propagating surviving trees though, and planting from this propagation. Unlike ash, which is almost always grown from seed, much of the elm population is propagated from suckers and some species don't form fertile seed in the UK. This means that whereas the ash population is very genetically diverse, much of the elm population is genetically identical.

 

There are certain parts of the country, notably East Anglia, where the Plot elm was prevalent. This is fertile, and hybridizes with the other species, also forming fertile seed. This gives greater genetic diversity, and hence more likelihood of resistance and hence survival. The difficulty here is that the trees have to reach significant age for it to become apparent that they are resistant. This means that in the meantime they are at risk from other factors, and when they do get large they ultimately may die of other, normal causes for large, old trees. They are also, given their relative scarcity, relatively unlikely to end up within pollinating distance of one another, so the resistant gene is unlikely to continue.

 

Propagating from a broad range of survivors, then planting them within pollination distance of one another is likely to result in propagating fertile stock, increasing the likelihood of further genetic diversity and natural expansion in time.

 

They're temperamental to propagate, but not impossible. You need to take cuttings in June, from the current year's growth, then cut the leaves in half to reduce water loss and plunge them an inch or so deep around the edge of a plant pot filled with 50:50 potting compost and sharp sand. Water well and cover with a clear plastic bag to stop them drying out. Ideally you then put them in a propagator with bottom heat, but if you haven't got one some will root if you put them on an East or West facing windowsill indoors.

 

Wait and see what leafs out again in spring, then pot them up the following autumn individually and you're away.

 

There are quite a few big trees around here which I'm trying this with. I don't have a propagator and I can only access very poor growth from ground level, but I have had the odd one take, so it is definitely possible (and a whole lot cheaper!)

 

Alec

[TimberCutterDartmoor]

Yer, planted some prineton elms few years back - all doing well, now about 3m tall... £40 a pop then tho...

[MattyF]

Interesting Matty,

 

Are any of these public access woods ?

 

 

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You could park right next to them and take a look.. I used to live directly opposite one of them.

[David Humphries]

You could park right next to them and take a look.. I used to live directly opposite one of them.

 

Ashwell area?

 

 

 

 

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