Siberian Elm question

10 years ago

last modified: 10 years ago

So i grew up on a street called "elmwood" and we had two siberian elms in the backyard. One was/is pretty big. They are still there, but look half dead. My question is, why do siberian elms grow this way? They are always shedding leaves, loosing branches, leaves look terrible on adults as soon as spring is over, holes in leaves, yellow/brown leaves. I live in nebraska, and they grow here as volunteer trees, even out in the countryside. So why do their leaves always look so terrible? Why do they shred branches so easily. We have been getting plenty of rain here lately, is this just from parasite bugs or leaf blight? Or is there something bigger going on here (our soil is very clay) and some years do bring drought and excessive heat or cold up to 95+f in summer sometimes and as low as -25f in winter, but one would think being from siberia they would take the cold and drought. One of my favorite trees, still remember those guys as a kid, i would take all the fallen twigs and make fake trees in the ground when i played in the back yard.

Featured Answer

bengz6westmd

10 years ago

Neighbor's two Sib elms. Guessing about 60 yrs old. Elm yellows disease is rampant in this area, and the Sib/slippery elm hybrid seedlings from these trees get infected & die after a couple decades, but these pure Sibs are resistant. Taken around 2005 as my plantings were just getting started:

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Comments (7)

Toronado3800 Zone 6 St Louis
10 years ago
Here they can look ok for awhile. Their nice is just quick growth and ability to grow in parking lot crevaces I guess.
akamainegrower
10 years ago
Not much positive to say about ulmus pumila. The leaves are a magnet for elm leaf beetles, Japanese beetles and lots of other pests. Seriously invasive in many areas. Shed branches routinely. The samaras create a mess every spring. They were promoted as an ultra hardy tree for shelter belts in harsh climates, but never should have been used as street trees or residential plantings. Their resistance to Dutch elm disease has been used in attempts to produce hybrid American elms with resistance.
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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
10 years ago
not much impressed with leaf problems in september ...

they are also a magnet for ice storms.. when they can be completely torn apart ...

fast to grow.. fast to height.. fast to disease.. fast to die.. in tree time, of course ...

just a carp tree ..

ken
mat68046
Original Author
10 years ago
Its funny because i just came back from my brother in laws house, and there was a young siberian elm tree about 4 foot high, september 1st, and ALL the leaves are in perfect shape. I think its a pretty cool interesting tree, but im not one to like things that are easy to grow, i like difficult things for some reason, i guess the challange. Would make a cool bonsai tree if simply cut back, but the roots are very long so would have to grow from seed or get a small tree from a nursery. As far as i can tell, they are not THAT short lived, the ones at my old house must be 70 + years. Im 33 and they were full grown big trees when i was a small child. From what ive heard, they are the last 2 elm trees on a street that had a bunch of elms and lost them to dutch elm disease. (could be just rumors tho) They are in the back yard.
summgardner
6 years ago
Although Siberian Elms have a bad reputation, I have found they are about the only plant that can live through salt water flooding, terrible blizzards, wind, hot sun, and to some degree, lack of rain.
User
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Yeah,

And pretty soon you have nothing but Siberian elms. I recently removed several large S. Elms, growing inside my lilac hedge. Finally got control of the spreading after I removed all those growing everywhere around me, in curb, street & sidewalk cracks, mulch rings. Even where I mow the lawn, the little seedlings come back again and again, seems like they never die.