I've seen some places this year where Elm trees are being sold. Maybe I'm missing something but with dutch elm disease it doesn't seem like it'd be worth planting elm trees

They've bred that suseptibility out of the species with GMO's.

There are also resistant varieties from hybridization with Asian elms.

Interesting.

No GMOs have been used. Selection for natural resistance and hybrids, yes.

There are still many small elms, but most don't get very big. Every so often I see a big tree that appears to be doing well. Usually they are by themselves. Don't know if they are resistant to Dutch elm disease, separated enough from the population to get passed over, or a combo of both. Maybe they're just lucky

All (And I mean All) the slippery ((This word is unacceptable on Trapperman)) elm around my area died out about 3 years ago.

Not a live elm to be found anywhere.

Not sure if some new elm disease or parasite has arrived in the area ?

w

Saw on the news where a lot of trees of various species are dying due to the drought the past couple of years. The drought has compromised the tree's immunity from certain diseases. I have a large dead oak in my yard that seemed healthy several years ago. All my elms are either dead or dying.

I guess the Elm Zigzag Sawfly is killing off our elms in northern New York.

If it's not one thing, it's another !!!

w

We have 10 or so of the new Elm varieties in our yard. We planted most of them around 10-15 years ago. If I remember right we planted Accolade, Pioneer and Homestead elms.

We have a lot of the Chinese elm trees in our area. They make me hate the word elm.

For sure. We have them up at the lake in our backyard. They are a nuisance and should be classified an invasive species.

We have 3 types of native elm trees in Ohio. There are some naturally occurring American Elms that are resistant to Dutch Elm Disease. There are lots of Slippery Elm trees, so called because the bark easily comes off of the wood. The Slippery Elms are also called Red Elms because of the beautiful red wood. I've turned the wood on a lathe and you can make beautiful pieces with it. The wood and cut bark smell good and sweet. The Rock Elms, mostly grow in rocky parts of the state, like South East, Ohio. I've never seen one in my end of the state except for one I dug up and transplanted to my mom's yard.

There are nonnative, Siberian Elms, that have become established in Ohio too.

Keith

Seth they grow well out here and take the extreme heat, cold and wind. If you see a house it has Elms in the yard. The old Russian elms are our main firewood. The older houses that have Chinese elms in the yard are a nightmare to mow. I swear each tree drops a thousand dead branches.

My parents have a giant American Elm doing well in their yard even though the ones around died of dutch elm disease.

Chinese Elms are actually nice trees and are not really invasive. What you guys are talking about is Siberian elms which are messy and a pain in the rear, they will however grow in harsh environments that other trees won't tolerate.

There is some discussion among woodland owners that some of the native elm species are more resistant to the disease then the American Elm. Does anyone have experience with those species and how the disease impacts those species?

Bryce

Great info so far, thanks

I grew up in Eastern NC town named Elm City. Not an elm tree in town. All died before I was born.

I have 2 elms on my farm that didn't die when the dutch elm disease came through. They are widely separated and out in the open . One is well over 3 feet , at the butt. the other about 18 inches. old243

Dutch Elm disease is carried by a beetle, this bug does not travel far in its life span. So some isolated elm trees setting alone far from groves of elms have survived.

How do you guys like elm vs oak for firewood?

Oak is hands down better in my opinion.

I would sooner split oak than elm hands down but they are pretty comparable in firewood.

Red Elm is some of the best firewood you can get.

I really like Elm for firewood. Much of which is due to it standing for a long time when dead and losing all it's bark in the process. Let it shed it's bark and you have bone dry wood without the mess. It rarely falls to the ground, soaking up moisture. It doesn't split real easily though. Not something you want to split with an axe.

wrong answer above
there are two species of Elm bark beetles, the western species flies many miles in dispersal so disease can spread fast as it did once it got to the Minn boarder it was rapid in the 1970's
the Eastern species can fly on certain conditions but maybe 5 miles

I love dead elm and ash but I have a boiler to feed they are never ending here always a few dying in every tree belt.

Elm is abundant here and like Calvin said the seasoned on the stump stuff is ready to burn or will be sooner than other trees. A splitter is a must on the big stuff I take it no matter how big it is just hauled the 3 bottom rounds off a 36” stump. If it clunks like a bowling pin sound that’s some good elm to burn.

The down side it leaves a lot of ash.

It's a Bear to split and it stinks when burning!

White elm is called pi-- elm around because it can smell like that when burning. The best time to spit red or white elm is when its cold enough to have a little frost in it,splits alot faster. The real big rounds I will noodle in half and they split better on log spitter.

You can google these names for pictures of these trees. I planted the Prairie Expedition and they look good. It did well in the testing to see if they could kill it with various levels injected fungus. The following are all American Elms.

* Princeton – Selected in 1922. Vigorous growth rate with very upright form. Available in most garden centers and also through mail-order.
* Prairie Expedition – A 2004 North Dakota State University selection. Classic vase-shaped American elm with outstanding autumn gold color. Winter hardy to USDA zone 3.
* New Harmony – A USDA selection that appears to have superior form when compared to Princeton and Valley Forge.
* St. Croix – Selected by Mark Stennes from a massive parent tree in Afton, MN, this elm joins the ranks of Dutch elm disease-resistant elms with a Minnesota twist.

Extension.umn.edu has good background info on Elm trees that have resistance to Dutch Elm Disease (fungus) carried by Beatles. The Arboretum in MLPS has planted most of the resistant varieties and are watching them.

I'm unsure if I have red or white elm

It’s better than cottonwood that stinks, won’t last as long and does not put out the heat elm will.

One year we went to the river and cut down a giant red elm. This thing was over 3 foot at the base easy and maybe even 4. It split like a wet dream. I and my brother split the entire thing with axes and mauls. I even split some trap stakes out of it. Once you drove those in on a water set, you did not get them back.

Red elm splits great and burns awesome.
American elms burns alright, but splitting can be about impossible without a splitter and a hatchet to cut the strings.

American elm bark can be used for a lot of utilitarian things like canoes, buckets, ladles, and roofing materials.

Red elm bark is not too good for utilitarian stuff because it splits (like the wood). Red elm bark is a decent food though, some trees have inner bark that is like eating bamboo shoots, but some has fiber that has to be spit out after chewing the “meat” out. Red elm fiber, after retting, is very soft and in the days of tumplines it was a preferred fiber for making them.

I often mark elm trees for bark harvest, and when I come across one big enough for a canoe I give it a GPS but do not mark it for harvest. This is so I always have some pre-marked for canoe projects. I have one 50 acre parcel where there are over a dozen that are too big to touch fingers around - all healthy. Lots of dead ones in there also, but those particular old ones aren’t dying for some reason. At least not yet.

I have seen a rock elm (U. Thomasii) that was only 12” diameter over 80 years old. And it was alive and healthy when peeled and then cut for firewood.

Good info so far, thanks.

A neighbor gave me a load of 48" elm logs from a tree he recently cut down in his yard. I don't look forward to splitting it, but I felt like I couldn't pass it up. I'm unsure if we have red or white elm around here.