Ugh, that's bad luck.

I thought Siberian elms were resistant to elm yellows, but I don't know what else it would be.

The info at elmpost.org indicates that 'Princeton' was selected in part for its resistance to elm yellows, so you might consider that as a replacement. Somewhere I had read that Valley Forge was showing good resistance as well, but I can't find that link.

Alex

I would verify that EY is what you have with a certified arborist or your local Extension office. If that's what you have, i wouldn't plant another native elm.

beng, do you know anything about the big elms in DC? I'm pretty sure they inject them with something to help against DED and they generally seem reasonably healthy. Is it possible the DED treatment also protects against elm yellows? Western MD isn't so far from NoVA and DC, so EY must be endemic throughout the area.

DED treatment is of no avail. Elm yellows seems like a possible knock-out punch for the elm...?

Here is a link that might be useful: Penn State Prepares for Elm Yellows Disease

Beng: Sadly, as previous posters have indicated, there is NO preventative or treatment for EY. There may be some pesticides available to control the vector (white banded elm leaf hopper?) but as the tree matures, I would think that would become increasingly prohibitive. D.C. elms and they are planting quuite a number of them, could be in jeapardy since EY is supposed to be spreading in that direction. The legacy elms at Penn State are about to be subjected to an onslaught, as well.

Alden Townsend, who conducted the elm innoculation studies for the National Arboretum, posted a disclaimer on the web shortly after the release of Valley Forge and New Harmony stating that all american elm selections involved in his study did show susceptibility to EY in the lab. I would be curious to see if in fact Princeton did show resistance, although I would probably not plant in area where EY was known to exist. I don't believe EY as as widespread and systemic as ded and tends to be spotty. I hope this isn't a major outbreak.

OK, here's another question: is it possible that young trees are more susceptible to EY than mature ones? The DC trees are not juveniles, but whopping big, mature trees.

Of course, it's possible EY simply hasn't reached that area...

My poor 'Valley Forge' seems doomed even though, at the moment, there's not a thing wrong with it that better staking couldn't fix!

If you have space, you should try an Accolade elm, if you haven't already. Suppose to be highly resistant to elm yellows. But it hasn't grown that fast though, compared to my Princeton elm.

Thanks for the replies. The elm has no growth at all (it grew into September every yr earlier). I'm watering it, but now even the "good" interior leaves are looking alittle anemic.

The Sib elms around here had lingering deaths taking several yrs for sprouting to stop.

I wouldn't be too discouraged about the Princeton elms in general. Mine was planted in a disease-prone spot -- most places won't have such a degree of exposure.

leslies, I'm not sure there's much resistance to either EY or DED w/age -- the trees just need to reach a certain size to attract the bark beetles (leaf-hoppers for EY) that spread the disease. And yes, I've seen a few of the DC Amer elms. The biggest I've seen was at Swarthmore College near Philidelphia, PA w/a trunk diameter around 7' at breast height -- much wider than that at the ground. There's also an avenue of mature Amer elms in downtown Roanoke, VA that they inject w/antifungal agents to keep them healthy. Expensive, tho.

What are some thoughts about the use of Bayer Advanced systemic treatment (Merit) as preventative solution to DED and EY? As I've written in another thread, last year, the Japanese Beetle had at my Princeton Elm. This year, after Bayer treatment, not a leaf has been chewed, although the JBs are everywhere else. Since the bugs that carry the DED and EY bore, eat, etc. the elm, shouldn't the Bayer treatment deter them too and with them, the disease they carry?

Just to update, the tree is deader than a door-nail -- only a month & a half after first symptoms. This is much quicker than the Siberian elm deaths, which take yrs.

I investigated alittle, and supposedly Asian/European elms are "resistant" (some say immune) to Elm Yellows. But the Sib elms lining my border stream obviously don't show much. :)

My remaining elm is 'Allee II' Chinese elm. It actually grows about as fast as the 'Valley Forge' did -- now around 18' tall, planted in spring 2004. It's form is handsome enough, but in no way a "replacement" for Amer elm. The best credible imitation of Amer elm form I've seen are some Honeylocust specimens.

Look up banded elm bark beetle.... It is in MD, from Asia, and will kill a healthy elm even without introducing DED