Which type of Chinese elm to use for a forest planting?

sheepinajeep

I've seen some incredible forest or group plantings on the gallery page using chinese elm, and I was interested in attempting one of my own.

I have been checking the Evergreen Gardenworks page for the potential chinese elm types that are available and have been in loose correspondance with Brent, the owner, and he has given me a wealth of information, which I surely appreciate.

I was wondering if some of you can give me a head's up of what type of elm you used (meaning, 'catlin' or 'corticosa' or whatever) if you did make a forest/group planting. I have been told it is more difficult to use chinese elms for this project, but like I said, I'm interested in it! I've also heard the "caitlin" (sorry if I am misspelling) is better than "corticosa" for this use, but once again, just seeing if anyone had any feedback concering their own personal experience with this!

Thanks!

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rockm

This is like asking what kind of goat is best to pull a cart. It doesn't make that much difference. All chinese elm cultivars will make pretty decent forests. It just depends on what you want the planting to look like.

Cork barked varieties can provide a rugged air, Catlin has extremely dense twigging and small leaves (which can actually be a disadvantage as the plants quickly become too dense and require constant thinning.)

don't know where you got the info on chinese elms being difficult in forest groups. They're pretty decent.

sheepinajeep

Hi,

Thanks for responding....actually, I am not sure if the term "difficult" was used by the person who told me....I'd have to check back to my email for that one. Something to do with the fact that elms get the rounded tops and push the other trees further away....(yeah, I'm doing a great job, I should just go back to that email and quote it directly).

I was told that the Catlin actually are better since it takes awhile for the cork bark to get the rough bark, but yeah, I bet you are right....it probably doesn't really matter which to use....I was just trying to get feedback from people that have done it since I am not sure how each species of elm respond to a forest planting.

Yeeks, my final result will surely be interesting!

rockm

" am not sure how each species of elm respond to a forest planting."

They respond fine, horticulturally. I would say that I wouldn't use Catlin or seiju (two fo the denser twigged cultivars) because they respond too well. My catlin elm simply gets too dense to quickly and requires constant thinning.

sheepinajeep

"I would question your choice of cultivars for a forest. 'Corticosa'
would be my last choice. It has to be quite large to obtain the highly
desirable furrowed bark, and by then it would be too large for most
forests. In it's smaller, younger stage, it is quite ungainly and
subject to reverse taper and awkward joint branching. You would be
better off using one of the smaller cultivars such as 'Catlin',
'Seiju',
or 'Yatsubusa'."

This is a quote from my email with my correspondent, which, well, is suggesting otherwise, to avoid the corticosa and go with the catlin. I am DEFINATELY NOT starting a "he said she said" kinda thing, as my correspondent is actually Brent from Evergreen Gardenworks, and seems to be highly regarded, which is why I was going to go with what he says, except that I had seen other people's work when they used the corticosa, and it seemed kinda nice. Which is NOT to say that your opinion is not important to me....seems like you know what you're talking about, too!

But then, I realized that there were so many other species (or subspecies) of elm, that is why I was questioning which one....still kinda unsure which one (catlin or corticosa) I will use

The good thing, is that since I am such a beginner, that I will probably be pleased with either one, since I am not familiar with either one. But I can't lie, I was hoping that I would have a ton of people chime in and say "Oh yeah, DEFINATELY use THIS ONE (plant X) instead of THAT ONE (plant y)"

But thanks again for the post...still mulling....

rockm

"But then, I realized that there were so many other species (or subspecies) of elm, that is why I was questioning which one....still kinda unsure which one (catlin or corticosa) I will use."

Well, heck, Brent's right. One problem here is that you've confused species with cultivar. Corticosa, catlin and every other Chinese elm cultivar are the same species. They are Ulmus parviflora--chinese elm. They have, for the most part, the same care requirements. The differences are in some of the genetic quirks of each cultivar. With corticosa, its the bark, with catlin it's the smaller leaves and denser twigging.

Your challenge is to find which one offers the best advantages vs trade-offs. All have disadvantages, all have advantages. Again, it's really up to you to decide what you're after in the image you're out to create.

If you want a larger forest, with bigger, older looking trees, then corticosa would work fine--if you can finds suitable larger stock material. If you want a dense twigging and dense (almost impenetrable) foliage pads, the use Catlin.

It's up to you. If it were me, I'd just jump in with some generic (i.e. inexpensive) Chinese elms and see what happens. Go from there.