American elm in a pot/container
Me 1 (zone 7b NY)
3 months ago
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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
3 months agoEmbothrium
3 months agoRelated Discussions
Is this an American Elm?
Comments (24)Before the leaves even come out, you can tell the two of them apart by the colour of the flowers from a distance. Red elms have a red haze of bloom when you are not too close. White elm (american elm) have a pale green haze of bloom. Also, red elm blooms a week or two before whites. Re the resistant ones, yes, if you can only have few trees or even one in your yard, get one grown from cuttings. it will exactly copy the original. if you have a large woodlot and want to introgress resistance genes, plant seeds from some of the resistant ones and let nature cross them up. Also, resistance is showing up in local older trees, but finding them is the issue....See MoreAmerican elms are back
Comments (32)I will have mine pruned up to about 12 feet before I let them begin their typical arching vase shape. I may go even higher as I see them develop a little more. I have "Liberty Elms," which may be a little more erect growing and less spreading. I think 5 feet it is a little low for an elm to start its division into its large ascending limbs. Without seeing what you have it is hard to give good advice, but if the tree is young and vigorous, as it apparently is, you can do some really radical pruning that may seem extreme, but as the tree grows it will quickly overcome the loss and start growing in a better shape. Maybe you could select the best and strongest limb that is nearest the center of the others and cut off or radically shorten the others. It may look like a real "hack' job for a while, but in the long run it may make for a better tree. One of my trees has a tendency to fork with one side somewhat stronger but deflected in the opposite direction by the lesser side of the fork. I have been cutting off the lesser side, even though it seems extreme and leaves the trunk a bit crooked. But the tree is growing fast and so far it seems that the crook to the right, and then the one to the left will hardly be noticeable as the tree grows bigger and develops a balanced crown. At about 12 feet I see the tree beginning to divide into a beautiful set of ascending branches. For my tree that is probably the height it will have unless it develops in a way in the next couple of years that makes me thing differently. Many of the elms that once lined our town streets had divisions of their trunks 15 to 20 feet high. --Spruce...See MoreAmerican Elm help
Comments (3)No. If the stem is broken through, it won't heal. Trees, especially young ones, can "heal"/callous-over bark wounds, but a broken or splintered stem is done for. It MIGHT resprout from the roots, if the root system is a good one. It's worth clipping off the stem cleanly, and continuing to monitor it. Water it less than the other two, without letting it dry out, since it presently has little or no top growth to support and so needs less water. You have nothing to lose, but a little time, in seeing if it will make it. I'm sorry for your mishap. Have you figured out what happened? It might have been something as simple as a squirrel running over the pots - but putting up some sort of barrier might prevent damage to the other two....See MoreAmerican elm propagation ?
Comments (3)Several choices, all best to wait till earliest spring or at least November. If you can get back in November, take small cuttings. Pop in a plastic bag with a spritz of water on a paper towel placed in with them. Pop in fridge till you can wake up a rootstock...small potted elm. You can dig a small elm now, or buy a small one at a garden centre. Make a splice or saddle graft, any graft really, as soon as the stock starts pushing its buds. Second choice, dig up a root piece as big around as a pencil as soon as the frost goes. Make sure to pot the root piece right end up. The cut end usually sends up several shoots and continues to grow. You can thin the shoots gradually as the little tree grows. Try rooting a chilled cutting after a month in the fridge. Scrape the side to expose some green, treat with up to 8000 PPM IBA3 in talc, then pot in sterile peat, or sand or pearlite. Cover with a plastic bag and put in a warm place. wait, wait, wait....could take more than 8 weeks, or just 3 weeks, hard to say. I'm sure there are other methods too, but this what I've tried. Perhaps other have a different method they can share. If you know who owns the tree, you could do an air layer, and come back for it when it's rooted....See Moregardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
3 months agoMe 1 (zone 7b NY)
3 months agoMe 1 (zone 7b NY)
3 months agoEmbothrium
3 months agolast modified: 3 months agoMe 1 (zone 7b NY)
2 months ago
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tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)