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I'd like feedback from people who've planted one of the several new dutch elm disease resistant or immune Elm trees. I am very interested in planting a whole row of them along my frontage road. There are few shade trees that have the beautiful vase-shape of mature american Elms, so I'm hoping one of the new varieties has this nice vase shape. I'll be planting them in the Denver area. Thanks!
We have Elm trees around. They pop up everywhere like weeds. I wish some disease would come along and take them out. They are our biggest weed problem. Cottonwood trees are next. Then thistles.
Elms are shaggy messy trees (at least the weed kind that grow around us.) They get suckers form the ground up, They lose branches regularly. Unless you have their trunk and lower branches they tend to look awful. Then there are the saplings that grow along the foundation of anything, or in any concrete expansion joint, in your flower beds, Everywhere. I will be happy to dig some up and send them to you if you want your yard infested.
^ pretty sure what you are describing are Siberian or Chinese elms. they sound like the indestructible ones i remember having in new mexico.
as for the resistant American ones the OP is asking about, i'm interested in knowing more about others' personal experience with them too.
the Jefferson variety sounds pretty good if you can find any. I've seen this tree on the DC mall a couple summers back, i assume it's still there.
Coldjensens, just about every living specimen of American elm was wiped out by the Dutch Elm blight, more than 5 decades ago. They were magnificent trees and you and I have never seen a living one. If they can be re-established, hallelujah. They belong here, unlike the poopwood trees you are having issues with.
Now, all they have to do is re-establish the American chestnut tree and we'll really be back in business!
Coldjensens, just about every living specimen of American elm was wiped out by the Dutch Elm blight, more than 5 decades ago. They were magnificent trees and you and I have never seen a living one. If they can be re-established, hallelujah. They belong here, unlike the poopwood trees you are having issues with.
Now, all they have to do is re-establish the American chestnut tree and we'll really be back in business!
The grove in NYC Central Park is still there. Portland and several Canadian cities still have them too
I'd like feedback from people who've planted one of the several new dutch elm disease resistant or immune Elm trees. I am very interested in planting a whole row of them along my frontage road. There are few shade trees that have the beautiful vase-shape of mature american Elms, so I'm hoping one of the new varieties has this nice vase shape. I'll be planting them in the Denver area. Thanks!
the additional concern for you in Phoenix may be that most all of the ornamental elm trees disease resistant or otherwise may not be especially drought and heat tolerant under the rather extreme conditions you and your plants often have to deal with. most likely all the "improved" cultivars of the American elm will want LOTS of water to grow well and look good and may need a more acid soil and water than the often rather alkaline soils that I think parts of Arizona provide (application of iron chelates may help in such situations and "acid-loving" plant fertilizer as well) .
FWIW, the "sunset western garden book" does not recommend most any of the elms (except perhaps the Chinese evergreen elm/ulmus sempervirens which does not have the "typical" shape and the Siberian elm/ulmus pumila which many folks consider weedy and again possessing the "right" crown shape) for low or intermediate desert locations like Phoenix or Tucson---likely because of concerns about heat, drought, and soil or maybe even selected "pyramidal" forms of the Arizona cypress (cupressus arizonica or c. glabra).
luckily plants both do not read books and in certain cases may be more adaptable to seemingly adverse conditions than even the "experts" may think so there's always at least a chance to experiment. OTOH, some of the eucalyptus species like e. papuana/ghost gum MIGHT have a roughly similar shape and crown density as mature plants and also be better adapted to heat and aridity.
that said, I would suggest consulting the local extension agent or a good nurseryperson (probably not somebody from the local home improvement store) and see what they might suggest either in elms or other plants with a functionally similar look. also, a drive through or walk through of local parks and gardens and most especially in the older sections of town may show what grows best over long-term in either high maintenance or low maintenance (i.e. lots of supplemental irrigation or not so much) areas.
hope this helps.
Last edited by georgeinbandonoregon; 09-30-2017 at 12:54 PM..
Thanks for the input. The loss of all our nation's American Elms was a huge loss. Unfortunately now the nation's ash trees are being destroyed
Yes the ash tree disaster is a horrible event. We bought some wonderful forested property in the month of February some years ago. Come spring - ooops, those were ash trees. Do you know how expensive it is to remove 40 dead ash trees? Now we have a nice field with some thicket at the back.
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