WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO PROPAGATE ELM?

[Paul Harfield]

Since the beginning of the year I have been scouring my local patch for Elm trees, in the hope it might lead me to undiscovered colonies of White Letter Hairstreak. Well we can all dream cant we Sadly I have not found a single Elm to date locally Plenty of almost every other well known native broad leaved tree Oak, Ash, Beech, Sycamore, Field Maple, Sweet Chestnut, Horse Chestnut, Willow, Sallow, Alder, Elder, Birch, Rowan, Lime, Hazel, London Plane, Poplars etc but no Elms. There surely must be a few scattered around, but they are obviously not as numerous as others and I cant find them. Maybe I am looking in the wrong places. I know there are plenty further a field.
Today whilst walking back from seeing the Olympic Torch with my son in Fareham (not really my local patch) I spotted some interesting looking leaves. When I took a closer look sure enough it was an Elm almost completely hidden in other shrubs and densely covered in Ivy. It must have been there since I was quite young and I have probably walked past it thousands of times before without noticing. It forms part of a very loose high hedge and must have been roughly trimmed back for many years as it is still fairly small. I think it is Wych Elm as the leaves are slightly hairy top and bottom.
Anyway getting to the point, I know it is highly unlikely that I could attract WLH with an Elm tree but I still feel my local patch would benefit from more Elms. What is the best way to propagate from this Elm? Is a cutting likely to take from new growth or maybe a leaf cutting? The tree is right next to a busy dual carriagway and is probably on private property so I do not think digging up suckers if there are any would be appropriate

[Matsukaze]

Hi Jack,

Wych Elm will grow from seed and this should be possible at home - I have tried but unfortunately the slugs have got to the seedlings at an early stage. You are probably just a bit late for the seeds now which usually fall to the ground in June.

Never tried cuttings but that is because I remember hearing somewhere or other that they do not 'take', though I'm prepared to be proved wrong on that point.

[essexbuzzard]

If it is English Elm,they usurally throw up root suckers,which can be dug up from november to march,when the leaves have fallen off.
Wych Elm,as said earlier,grows from seed,collected in late may.
The leaves of Wych Elm are much bigger-up to 4 to 6 inches long-than other elms. An identification feature.

[Cotswold Cockney]

I have several species of Elm ( Ulmus ) and close relative Celtis in my mini Nature Reserve. A few acres of unused farmland I bought over twenty years ago. English Elms have probably always been present in the hedge there. Suckers come up every years and succumb when they approach maturity. Suckers are healthy whilst the dead skeletons of once fine trees rot in the same hedges nearby. Once the bark reaches a certain maturity the beetles move in and then ...

I dug up seedling/sucker Elms many years ago and potted them in large pots. I used to breed a number of species of Apaturinae ( Purple Emperors ) and some of the finest species have Elm as their larval foodplant. All those once potted and almost Bonzai Elms and Celtis are now established trees ~ some now forty years old but, yet to attain the size of a forty year old tree although now quite tall and spreading. Back in the 1970s, I was given a small sapling species of Elm by someone involved with the study of White Letter Hairstreaks and their conservation. By sheer coincidence, he was with me when I found a single ovum of the WLH on Blackthorn whilst we were searching for ova of the Brown and black haitrstreaks... Funny old game .. Mother Nature .. ...I was told that it was an Elm species which shows resistance to the Elm disease. I still have that plant, now a substantial free growing tree. Over the years I took several cuttings from that Elm species and some of these are now trees say 5 metres or taller in height and thriving. So some species of Elm can be propagated that way. I also managed to grow a fine Celtis Sinensis from a cutting which my Japanese Butterfly correspondent supplied with the comment that he did not think it would be possible. He had much more experience of these things than I had.. I have a slide of him standing next to that tree along with my son when he visited me... my son at the time was about four so it was about twenty five years ago. That tree was destroyed ten years ago along with a magnificent Strawberry Tree ( Arbutus unedo ) to make way for a double garage. It was far too big to transplant and the Strawberry tree was the size of a transit van. I reared a good number of Europe's largest butterfly on that Arbutus.

I do not know the name of this supposedly disease resistant Elm but, it's leaves resemble closely the tree in front of the entrance to Gloucester Royal Hospital which is a tree maybe seventy feet high and maybe over one hundred years old. The once magnificent Wych Elms to be seen in and around the city closeby I remember seeing as late as the early 1970s are all long gone victims of the disease. Not this magnificent tree though so just maybe. Here it is :~



Some of my original potted Wych Elms retained their 'odd' potted shapes ( to fit in the breeding cages ) for many years after free planting out. All have now sent out a strong upright main trunk and so are beginning to look more like a Wych Elm should. Cannot remember if any of those original potted Elms were individual seedling plants or 'suckers' from underground roots. In any event, they thrived for years and supported many fine butterflies including many Commas as well as those fine Emperors.

In my experience, the WLH is one of those butterflies that is easily overlooked. It could be thriving not far from you and you wouldn't be any the wiser unless a chance observation gives the game away. I once saw a fresh female settle on the hot tarmac in the very centre of Gloucester Cross. Not pedestrianised then and passing traffic from all four directions missed it somehow as it was in the very centre of all the four roads.

EDIT to add:~

Digging up suckers and seedling trees.

I try to seek out the Landowners and politely ask permission. Not been refused yet and some folks even allow me access to their considerable grounds ( like 100+ acres of private broadleaved woodland ) to help myself once they are happy that you are both genuine ... and harmless...

[Paul Harfield]

If it is English Elm,they usurally throw up root suckers,which can be dug up from november to march,when the leaves have fallen off.
Wych Elm,as said earlier,grows from seed,collected in late may.
The leaves of Wych Elm are much bigger-up to 4 to 6 inches long-than other elms. An identification feature.

Hi essexbuzzard, Matsukaze and Cotswold Cockney
The leaves on this particular Elm are quite small, certainly not 6 inches, half that at most. I think on reflection it may be English Elm, I think they are also slightly hairy. I will have another look and take some cuttings to try, I will let you know the outcome. Thanks for the info and for such a comprehensive reply Cotswold Cockney

[Cotswold Cockney]

Following a morning of incessant rain, bright sunshine appeared about 3.30 this afternoon with large gaps of blue in the clearing clouds.

Took the opportunity to check my property and it was still sunny although a strong gusting wind when I arrived. Pleased to see a good number of Meadow Browns and a couple of female Marbled Whites. All well past their best but, quite active. Both Large and Small skippers too. Think I spotted a Gatekeeper but the wind blew it away quickly so cannot be certain. They are breeding here and most summers are numerous. Only other butterfly seen was a fine, Freshly emerged Comma.

Took a few pictures of the trees. Here's a close up of the leaves of the Elm I was given over thirty years ago by someone studying the White Letter Hairstreak many moons ago:~



Here's one of the cuttings taken from the same tree which is now quite a substantial tree in its own right. Very windy when this was taken :~



and another thriving tree that I started as a cutting :~



This Wych Elm is shaping up nicely. It was the most stunted of the several potted Wych Elms. One of the other ex-potted plants is a tall upright tree about twice the height of the one in the picture. All are the same age :~



I also have planted a couple of Strawberry Trees. Their beautiful clusters of Lilly of the Valley type flowers are a delight to see in winter months and as a bonus, provide nectar November and into January for the occasional 'winter' Red Admiral. The bright evergreen bush just left of centre in the next picture is a Strawberry Tree :~



The spindly sapling just right of centre is another member of the Elm family, Celtis Occidentalis. This being the larval foodplant of one or two members of the Apaturinae found in North America. I bred a few of these and they are one of the fastest butterflies I've ever seen. Known as the Hackberry Emperor ( Asterocampa celtis ) in a race with our Emperor I think my money would be on this one. They are winged rockets ... :~

[Paul Harfield]

Hi Cotswold Cockney

Thanks again for the indepth reply and photos of your own Elms. Having your own 'mini nature reserve' must be an absolute joy, I am very envious. You have obviously been pretty successful with your Elm cutttings, they are clearly thriving.

I was working in the Brighton/Hove area yesterday and was amazed to find that unlike in my local patch, Elms seem to be the commonest tree. Every major road in the area seems to be lined with Elms and the parks that I passed also seemed to be well populated with Elm trees. I took the liberty of taking a cutting to try but do not know which type of Elm it is. I do not know if there is a correspondingly high density of White Letter Hairstreak in the area, I did not have time to look.

[Cotswold Cockney]

Yes all the Elms I planted out, including one or two stunted by being kept in pots for over ten years are doing very well.

Sad to observe that despite being established there for several years, my Celtis species are not thriving in that part of west Gloucestershire where I've planted them. The exact opposite of those I planted in my garden in the Vale of Gloucester back in the 1970-80s where they grew vigorously into fine healthy specimens. Maybe the clay and limey soil there suits them better. I cut them down to make way for a double garage built in far end of my garden as those in my field would be a good back up. Best laid plans and all that.

I raised several generations of a number of Celtis feeding Apaturinae, including the largest of all the Apaturinae ( as far as I know ) , Sasakia funebris. My favourite Celtis feeding "Emperor" I've bred is the Golden Emperor ( Dilipa fenestra ) found in the Oriental regions such as Korea and China where it is considered rare. It is well named with a superb golden sheen on the upperside of the wings which is reflective and has a metallic quality in freshly emerged specimens. Truly like burnished brass and golden. The only images I've located on-line are copyrighted but this one of the closely related Dilipa morgiana is not :~



These are urls of the copyrighted images of Dilipa fenestra, the Golden Emperor :~

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaeksong/6074972636/

and one feeding in typical Emperor style on something far from tasty ...

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=h ... wBg&dur=45

As is so often the case, images do not do the living insect justice.

Dilipa fenestra as well as being called the Golden Emperor, is also known as the window butterfly in some regions. Towards the apex of the forewings are two clear windows, approximately located where in other Apaturinae such as our single member of this fabulous family has two white coloured spots. Yes, clear windows hence the scientific name .. fenestra. It is further unusual in that it hibernates as a Pupa in a few dead leaves secured to the living bush before they die off and fall from the tree. My stock came from a Korean contact back in the 1980s. I bred a superb female which is larger than the male and has the golden coloured sheen like the male. I believe with the closely related D. morgiana the females are larger which is usually the case, but much more strongly sexually dimorphic as they lack the golden colour and sheen being mainly brown dark brown. I overwintered their pupae in my unheated greenhouse. Temperatures and conditions in the Oriental winters can be harsher than ours. There were no overwinter losses with my pupae.

I would love to raise some more but chances of obtaining livestock are beyond remote now. I have the foodplant though.

[Cotswold Cockney]

Following a disappointing visit to one of my favourite Gloucestershire woodlands, I called in at my own mini nature reserve on the way home. I saw a flash of bright yellow soon after arrival and getting closer, located a freshly emerged male Brimstone about four metres up in a young oak :~



Using my digital compact at maximum zoom, got this shakey image :~



The butterfly is only about ten metres away from the small Purging Buckthorn Bush I planted some years ago. So, looks like my efforts have been worthwhile. In over twenty years, I have never seen a male Brimstone here in mid-Summer, only in the spring.

The Blackthorn and Hawthorns have grown very quickly in the past month or so. No doubt the huge amount of rain is at least partly responsible. One of my precious Celtis had become completely overgrown by the thorns. I spent some minutes clearing them away to give the poor little bush a breather and opportunity to put on some better growth.



That little bush is over thirty years old. having spent some years in a pot in my greenhouse prior to planting out, this bush still retains much of it's semi-Bonzai like appearance and has yet to stretch out like most of my other potted Celtis and Elms have done in recent years.

I saw more butterflies here than in my very disappointing visit to a favourite wood mentioned at the start. When time allows, I'll put up an illustrated thread about my favourite wood. It should prove of interest from a changing habitat viewpoint. Mostly bad, but, some good may come in the future.
..

[Paul Harfield]

I have read in several sources contradicting advice on the best time to take Elm cuttings, some said Spring and some Autumn. All however have indicated that the success rate was likely to be fairly low. So I thought I would try my luck back in the autumn. I took several cuttings back at the beginning of November from Elm growing in an old overgrown hedge along a field edge near to home. I do not know what type of Elm it is but I would guess at English Elm? At the time the cuttings were taken they were all had full leaf cover but were on the cusp of shedding their leaves.

I treated the cuttings in varying ways. I left most at about 8 inches long trimmed just below a bud, so they retained maybe 5 or 6 buds. Some were potted up outside without any rooting compound ( did not have any at the time) and some I left in water in my garage, some covered and some not. I also trimmed some at top and bottom. Since then there has been no noticeable change evident apart from leaf fall soon after the cuttings were taken and the water gone green!

However, yesterday I noticed that some of the cuttings in water had changed. Some of the buds have started to swell and open and one appears to have the start of root growth along the stem. This change must have only started since Christmas and I must say I am quite surprised and pleased . These cuttings as I said are in the garage, in the dark, in water. Thing is I am not sure what to do with them next?
Should I bring them into daylight? Pot them up?

Any ideas appreciated