Ulmus Americana - Cultivation

Cultivation

In years past, the American elm was used widely as a shade tree and as a street tree, because of its graceful, arching, vase-like growth form, and its tolerance of most stress factors These trees' rapid growth and longevity, leading to great size within decades, also favor its horticultural use. Furthermore, the cross-grained wood imbues the branches with great strength, with limb breakages rare. Ohio botanist William B. Werthner, discussing the contrast between open-grown and forest-grown American elms, noted that:

In the open, with an abundance of air and light, the main trunk divides into several leading branches which leave the trunk at a sharp angle and continue to grow upward, gradually diverging, dividing and subdividing into long, flexible branchlets whose ends, at last, float lightly in the air, giving the tree a round, somewhat flattened top of beautifully regular proportions and characteristically fine twiggery.

It is this distinctive growth form that is so valued in the open-grown American elms of street plantings, lawns, and parks; along most narrower streets, elms planted on opposite sides arch and blend together into a leafy canopy over the pavement.

• Lafayette Street, Salem, Massachusetts: an example of the 'high-tunnelled effects' of Ulmus americana avenues once common in New England

• Example of Ulmus americana as homestead elm: The Old Manse, Concord, Massachusetts

• Ulmus americana as campus elm: Cambridge, Massachusetts

American elms have been planted in North America beyond its natural range as far north as central Alberta, and south to Lake Worth, Florida. It also survives low desert heat at Phoenix, Arizona.

Introductions across the Atlantic rarely prospered, even before the outbreak of Dutch elm disease. Introduced to the UK in 1752, it was noted that the foliage of the American elm was far more susceptible to insect damage than native elms. A few, mostly young, specimens survive in British arboreta. Introduced to Australasia, the tree was listed by nurseries in Australia in the early 20th century, and is known to have been planted along the Avenue of Honour at Ballarat and the Bacchus Marsh Avenue of Honour. It is only rarely found in New Zealand.