Ulmus Pumila - Cultivation and Uses

Cultivation and Uses

Introduced into Spain in the 16th century, and later Italy, U. pumila has naturally hybridized with the Field Elm U. minor (see below, Invasive species and spontaneous hybridization). In Italy it was widely used in viniculture, notably in the Po valley, to support vines until the 1950s, when the demands of mechanization made it unsuitable.

U. pumila was introduced to North America by Frank Meyer who, whilst in the employ of the USDA, made several collecting expeditions to the Far East. The tree was initially cultivated at the USDA Experimental Station at Mandan, North Dakota, where it flourished. It was consequently selected by the USDA for planting in shelter belts across the prairies in the aftermath of the Dustbowl disasters, where its rapid growth and tolerance for drought and cold initially made it a great success. However, the species later proved susceptible to numerous maladies. Attempts to find a more suitable cultivar were initiated in 1997 by the Plant Materials Center of the USDA, which established experimental plantations at Akron, Colorado and Sidney, Nebraska. The study, no. 201041K, will conclude in 2020.

The species has a high sunlight requirement and is not shade-tolerant; with adequate light it exhibits rapid growth. The tree is also fairly intolerant of wet ground conditions, growing better on well-drained soils. While it is very resistant to drought and severe cold, and able to grow on poor soils, its short period of dormancy, flowering early in spring followed by continuous growth until the first frosts of autumn, renders it vulnerable to frost damage.

As an ornamental U. pumila is a very poor tree, tending to be short-lived, with brittle wood and poor crown shape, but has nevertheless enjoyed some popularity owing to its rapid growth and provision of shade. The Siberian Elm has been described by Prof. Michael Dirr as "one of, if not the, world's worst trees...a poor ornamental that does not deserve to be planted anywhere". Yet in the USA during the 1950s, the tree was also widely promoted as a fast growing hedging substitute for Privet, and as a consequence is now commonly found in nearly all states. It is the improved variant of the Turkestan Elm U. pumila var. arborea that is lately seen more often in gardens and referred to as the 'wonder hedge' (Ulmus pumila celer), being both dense and fast-growing, taking as little as two years to reach fence height.

In the UK, the popularity of U. pumila has been almost exclusively as a bonsai subject, and mature trees are largely restricted to arboreta.