I ran a kennel in Selkirk, Manitoba that had the runs settled under huge elms dating back to the year dot. DED hit while I was workign there, and they all had to come down. Oaks ahve their points, but they are not fast growers. A street lined with 60-75 foot high elms is something to see. I would consider some of the maples as suitable replacements. If I can convince Jeffries to sell me liners, I'm going to try to start a small sugar bush here in Alberta, now that Jeffries has a prairie hardy one. Vancouver found to their sorrow that planting a lot of one thing is a mistake, especially if it is cloned, and not grown from seed. So now they try to plant only a few blocks of a given street tree, and try to make sure that they use enough different kinds that there are buffer zones. So too on my tree farm, I put a block of pine, a block of spruce, a block of something else. A bug that has to look for the next victim is a bug that is more likely to be chickadee lunch. Find a DED elm. Plant 1 or 2. Maybe plant another kind of elm. Plant several oaks of different kinds, a weeping willow, and a clump of paper birch. Diversity in trees is every bit as important as diversity in your stock portfolio

I haven’t visited these forums in some time and actually rediscovered this thread doing a google search on some rare plants (go figure). Since we have a lot of trees and not a lot of resources and time to protect them, most of my losses are due to deer/rodent herbivory. Instead of dwelling on all of the plants I haven’t been able to keep alive, I’ll mention the highlights and surprises here. I went go in depth on too many so ask if you want more details and I’ll try to keep an eye on this thread and respond back when I can. I have been in Arizona since May and I’m basing the updates from this past growing season on my mother’s observations. -Strongest growing maple is Acer lobelii by far; arrived as a stick broken in half during shipping en route from Colvos Creek Nursery in Washington state and has grown at least 3 feet a year. It towers over all of the other sticks in my maple collection at about 15 feet. -Acer davidii grosseri hersii (what a taxonomic mess!) is the strongest growing snakebark and a new addition since the original post I believe. I don’t give it any “help” nutrition-wise and it has grown 2 feet each year; excellent striped bark turns crimson with the onset of cold weather and the leaves are a mix of red, orange, and purple in the autumn. From Forestfarm and while they are awesome, I have not yet keyed this plant to confirm its identity; either way, doing awesome for a snakebark in a clay-dominated alkaline soil in an exposed area. -Acer rufinerve gets no fertilization either and has some years where it sits back and grows little, and other where it takes off. Apparently this year it grew over 2’, so it now stands about 8’. Bark is excellent, although it doesn’t change to crimson like some of the other snakebarks. Can occasionally develop minor signs of nutrient deficiency but not a big deal. Leaves are amazing both texturally (coarse) and by color in the autumn, a mix of red, orange and violet. -Acer henryi looks like a Boxelder and grows like one in upstate NY. After a rough time establishing and a nasty bout of sunscald, it now grows about 2’ a year and has excellent red and violet autumn colors, with violet usually dominating. -Acer longipes is notable because I was able to get one through a winter (low -13F) with the only damage due to herbivory. Supposedly sprouted up big time this past summer. Not many experts seem to place much faith in its hardiness and it may have been below the snowline at the time of the low temp. Time will tell. -Acer mandshuricum, Acer triflorum, and Acer maximowiczianum all suffer through chlorosis. A. triflorum does the worst, A. maximowiczianum the best. A hybrid from Forestfarm between A. pseudoplatanus and A. griseum has done very well, with violet-backed leaves and red fall color. Hybrid vigor and no cold or soil issues. -Acer oliverianum is starting to pick up steam and has yet to be damaged by temps as low as -16F. Might be benefiting from the protection of a nearby hedge. Fall color is usually reddish-orange; it is deeply shaded. -Calycanthus raulstonii ‘Hartlage Wine’ is a huge success. Massive flowering in the second year and completely hardy. Grows very fast and gets leggy unless trimmed. Flowers are gorgeous and large, with virtually no scent. Numerous visitors that have seen the plants have subsequently scoured google for a dealer. The intense color has even drawn some hummingbirds. Seedless. Highly recommend. -Magnolia grandiflora ‘Bracken’s Brown Beauty’ gets defoliated by about January when the truly consistent cold temperatures begin. This about the time that the soil freezes for good as well, limiting the plant’s ability to care for the leaves no doubt. At times, it looks like a fancy houseplant with shiny green leaves growing amongst the snow. No cold-dieback although it is not yet established and grows only about 6 inches a year max so far (haven’t got an update for this past season yet). It is late to leaf out in the spring. -Have a Stewartia malacodendron that apparently did very well in a shaded and very rich sand lens in a protected area that gets partial shade. It is big enough to be above the (likely) snow line and I will be very, VERY interested in seeing if it overwinters. Perhaps more updates later (and as I receive them!)

>Alex3, culd I ask you to describe in more detail how you staked the leader? I would tie a garden stake to the highest region of the trunk that was not floppy, usually resting the bottom of the stake in a crotch. In other words, the bottom of the stake was not in the ground, it was several feet off the ground. Then I'd tie the floppy leader to the stake. This method has a couple advantages. 1) The bottom portion of the trunk was free to flex a bit in the wind, allowing it to strengthen 2) I could guide the leader even when the tree was taller than my tallest stake. Hope that helps, Alex

The property that used to be my Grandfather's place has some 100 year old plus elms, all americanas. We are in the Gulf of St Lawrence, so get LOTS of wind and freezing rain. They have stood up well. Some have died of the DED, but two are thought to be resistant. Since the current owner is injecting them with fungicide and has used Dutch trig, it's not known for sure if they are resistant, but their buddies started dying off fast and these two appeared to wall off small amounts in the crown. I have some of their seedlings, but suspect they are pollinated by their non resistant buddies that survive with treatments. A kind soul on this board has sent me seeds from his resistant trees, and two have made strong seedlings. It will be fun to plant them next to the Elmwood 18 seedlings and see what pops out. I still have my grandfather's woods, and there are elms there, so I am hoping to introgress resistance genes into the population in the woods. I haven't actually seen a Valley Forge, only its seedlings, so can't comment.