The Great British Elm Experiment

In an attempt to recover a species which was almost lost to disease, elm trees will be distributed for planting in schools across the country this month. Once a defining tree of Britain’s open, lowland country, the elm tree was almost wiped out due to a fungal infection brought here by a contaminated timber load from the US almost 50 years ago. The fungus, Ophiostoma novo-ulmi caused yellowing of the leaves in mid-summer and mature trees began to die. Small pockets of trees did survive, however and saplings have been propagated from these trees by the Great British Elm Experiment which will distribute them among schools this month.

The project, set up by the Conservation Foundation which was established by David Bellamy and David Shreeve will monitor the saplings to establish if they have any resistance to the disease as many hope. It is not clear why certain mature trees have survived, perhaps they repel the bark beetle which spreads the fungus, or they have developed a genetic resistance to the fungus. The trees from which the saplings have grown come from Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and Hampshire and are made up of species and sub-species, of which there are 40 found in the UK.

“We want to interest a new generation in the elm, so much a feature of the British life and landscape for centuries and also to try and find out why some trees survived Dutch elm disease,” says David Shreeve of the Conservation Foundation. He continues, “So many have disappeared over recent years that we can only hope to replace some. But rather than just give up and forget the elm, we think it’s worth a try.”

Read more about the Great British Elm Experiment and find out how old broken tools can be given new life through Tools Shed.