Today concluded my water-elm roundup for 2015. You couldn’t have asked for better weather – temps in the 50s to start the day, rising into the 60s as the dig progressed. Better still, I brought home some real quality material. I’ll know for sure next spring if I succeeded, but in the meantime here’s a peek at some of the new specimens:
Here’s a group of trees waiting their turn to be processed.
A nice masculine specimen. Look at the radiating roots!
A beautiful twin-trunk. This one should be spectacular in a few years.
Here’s proof that you can pack a lot of tree in a small specimen. The trunk base on this one is about 1.5″.
I always like to bring home at least one really big hunky specimen each year, and this one was number two for 2015. The trunk base is 4″ and the height (after a final chop) about 32″. This tree will make quite a statement in a few short years.
What do you do for aftercare after collecting these water elms?
Steven, once the trees have been potted they go on the benches with the others. They’re treated no differently, that is, protected in winter if temps get too low and kept watered with everything else. In winter I put all my trees on the ground if temps get below about 18F, and cover with plastic sheeting if temps are going to get close to 10F (which we haven’t had in 30 years).
Do you not collect these trees in January or February? Where is your location?
Water-elms can be collected in January or February, but the area I frequent is subject to seasonal flooding.