Michigan Gardener

SIGN UP for our Free E-Newsletter!
We will send you occasional e-mails with valuable gardening tips and information!

Digital Editions

Click on the cover to read now!
Sponsored by:

  • Home
  • Departments
    • Ask MG
    • Books
    • Clippings
    • Garden Snapshots
    • MG in the News
    • Janet’s Journal
    • Plant Focus
    • Profile
    • Raising Roses
    • Thyme for Herbs
    • Tools
    • Tree Tips
  • Garden Event Calendar
    • Garden Event Calendar
    • Submit a Calendar Listing
  • Resources
    • Alternatives to Impatiens
    • Garden Help
    • Soil and Mulch Calculator
    • Public Gardens
  • Web Extras
  • About
    • Publishing Schedule – 2023
    • Editorial Content
    • Bulk Subscriptions – 2023
    • Where to pick up Michigan Gardener
    • Privacy Policy
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
  • Advertising
    • Print / Web / E-Newsletter Advertising
    • Classified Advertising
    • Material Specs & Terms
    • Make a Payment

Please note that Michigan Gardener has a new schedule in 2023. We will publish one Print Magazine in the spring. This Spring issue will be in stores in early May 2023. We will also publish 10 E-Newsletters from spring through fall. Click to sign up for our free E-Newsletter.

Archive for the dutch elm disease tag

State of Michigan seeks help finding disease-resistant survivor elms

August 3, 2020   •   Leave a Comment

A century ago, elegant, vase-shaped American elms shaded neighborhoods with their lacy, arched canopies. Today, many of those trees are dead, skeletal husks—a legacy of the destructive Dutch elm disease. The fungal disease, spread by bark beetles, slowly wiped out most American elms after being introduced in the early 1900s.

However, the American elm’s story isn’t over. Midwest forest health experts are working to stage a comeback, and they need your help. Have you noticed any large, healthy American elms in your area or when out hiking in the forest? Those “survivor elms” might be tolerant of Dutch elm disease. If you are in Michigan’s colder climate zones (zone 5 and colder), you especially are encouraged to report these trees. Currently, there are no Upper Peninsula reports and very few northern lower Michigan reports. It’s important that these zones are represented, because it helps provide a clearer picture of where disease-resistant elms may be.

Several Midwest state natural resource agencies and the U.S. Forest Service are working together to identify such locations. They plan to collect branch samples for propagation (the process of growing new trees from a variety of sources), with the goal of developing a seed orchard suitable for future reforestation efforts in northern areas.

Eligible elms must be:

  • An American elm (not an imported species).
  • At least 24 inches in diameter.
  • Disease-free.
  • Naturally grown, not planted or treated with fungicide
  • Within 1 mile of Dutch elm disease (indicated by nearby dying/dead elms).

If you come across one of these trees, record its location and diameter at 4.5 feet from the ground. Submit the observation to the survivor elm website.

Ask MG: Why are my elm leaves are turning yellow and wilting?

Related: More on Hybrid Elms from Michigan State

Filed Under: Clippings Tagged With: dutch elm disease, elms, Michigan

Copyright © 1996-2023 Michigan Gardener. All rights reserved.