Goodbye to a giant

[Jfitz]

A short article, but has a great picture.  Largest elm tree in NE finally succumbs....

http://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2016/11/02/venerable-elm-tree-finally-succumbs-to-dutch-elm-disease

 

 

[Pwk5017]

A few PSU elms are still going strong. The allees off the library and next to old main are awesome to walk, but they would be even better if half the original elms hadnt died. Ancient ones planted in a flanking row give you a spectacular gothic cathedral feel. I forget the number, but i think the university spends $100,000-200,000 a year vaccinating and spraying the original elms. 

[Chestnut]

25 minutes ago, Pwk5017 said:

A few PSU elms are still going strong. The allees off the library and next to old main are awesome to walk, but they would be even better if half the original elms hadnt died. Ancient ones planted in a flanking row give you a spectacular gothic cathedral feel. I forget the number, but i think the university spends $100,000-200,000 a year vaccinating and spraying the original elms. 

There is a road in my home town that is about a mile long that is covered in a full Elm canopy. It's probably one of my favorite streets to drive down. When it rains it takes about 30 min for the rain to make it through the leaves and reach the ground.

[BonPacific]

2 hours ago, Chestnut said:

There is a road in my home town that is about a mile long that is covered in a full Elm canopy. It's probably one of my favorite streets to drive down. When it rains it takes about 30 min for the rain to make it through the leaves and reach the ground.

There's a similar street near my house. Only one block, but it's absolutely gorgeous. Seattle has been relatively pro-active in dealing with DED, but who knows how long it will last.

I'm hearing good things about the disease-resistant species the USDA developed, so in a few decades we might start seeing the return of the American elm from new plantings.

[CandorLush]

We lost a very old elm in Maryland last summer to DED. I happen to live very near to it and am also part of the local WW Guild who has been tasked with preserving the large cross-sections of the base that were cut. In return, I have about a half dozen large chunks of the tree to use that, to be honest, I am too terrified to use yet. The wood is absolutely stunning to see fresh cut.

 

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/howard/bs-ph-belmont-elm-pg-photogallery.html

[Barron]

I've never worked with elm, but I have read that it often has interlocked grain and can be difficult to work with some hand tools. It's a beautiful tree and there are now varieties that are highly resistant to Dutch Elm Disease.  They are fast growing and make great shade trees. 

[Unknown craftsman]

What a nice big old tree that was.In the article it say the word will be used to make furniture.

So it's not really a good bye yet.

We have lots of live big live oaks around here.

Aj

[Pwk5017]

12 hours ago, Aj3 said:

What a nice big old tree that was.In the article it say the word will be used to make furniture.

So it's not really a good bye yet.

We have lots of live big live oaks around here.

Aj

PSU uses the elm wood for furniture and diploma frames to cash in on alumni and students more than they already do. It would be a cool story behind any piece though.