Heavily planted in Casper, WY as a city shade tree. We had big freeze in early November 2014, when the temperature dropped from 55 to -26 overnight. This killed a lot of the elms and junipers, and a lot still need to be taken out. Good tree for dry conditions.
I quite like them personally. We had a large one at my childhood home, and I used to pick up the branches for fun, and put them in piles. I miss doing that, odd as that sounds. Wasn't happy when my parents had it cut down. Had a very unique shape, and I loved all the moss that would grow on it. Used to be many in my neighborhood. Most are gone now though.
Thank you for refreshing my memory on this tree. I have been trying to recall which tree this was and for the life of me could not remember. Siberian elm is not described, or poorly described, in my tree identification books. These trees grow everywhere locally in Michigan. We had one cut down for fear of it falling on our house. Our neighbor almost had one fall on his house this past year. Ulmus pumila, pumila meaning small, maybe I'll remember it now. Thanks again, Roosevelt.
While not necessarily super fast growing (typically about 1.5 feet per year, sometimes more) southern Magnolias (magnolia grandiflora) is a classic southern tree with large, dark green, glossy leaves and 12-inch white, fragrant flowers in spring and summer. It makes an excellent screen as lower limbs will remain in place unless pruned up. Cones will drop to the ground, but their clean-up is the minimum maintenance required. Grows up to 40 feet tall in North Texas with a 30 foot spread and is very heat and drought tolerant. If you want really fast growth (3-6feet per year when young, very similar to Siberian elm) and shade you could always plant Cottonwoods(populus deltoides) as this is probably the fastest growing tree in the U.S and one of the most widespread, but doesn’t necessarily make a good screen. If you want fall color Shumard oaks(quercus shumardii) is Considered one of the best oaks for Texas landscapes with red fall foliage, and oaks are some of the best trees ecologically for wildlife. Grows up to 60 feet high and 50 feet wide at a growth rate around 2 feet per year. If you want a shrub that makes a good screen (although it’s also not necessarily really fast growing) three-leaf sumac (Rhus trilobata) is a very drought tolerant native shrub that grows densely and has great fall color. If you want a small ornamental tree you could try the Mexican Buckeye(Ungnadia speciosa) A deciduous, multi-trunked tree with dramatic, hot pink flowers similar to red bud trees. Needs soil that drains well, but is very heat and drought tolerant. Averages 12 feet tall with a 10 foot width. It grows slow at first, but faster with age.
The Siberian elm (Ulmus Pumila) and its close relative, Chinese elm (Ulmus Parvifolia) are drought tolerant and hardy. For this reason, they can be grown in cold deserts and steppes. Oak species, Juniper species and some Pine species can also live in such climates. The Siberian elm can grow in states such as Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, California, Nevada, Idaho. Its spread in the more humid Northern and Eastern states is quite harmful. It has not been a problem in its coexistence with the Oak-Juniper ecosystem in Asia. The quality of its wood is not excellent but it is not very very bad. It grows faster than Oak and Juniper. Maybe it can be used for forestry for commercial purposes and in addition to enrich the ecosystem in problematic climates. It can only be preferred in very desperate areas. It should not be preferred in wooded areas and forests. The damages to the existing American Oak-Juniper ecosystem and Pine ecosystem should be evaluated. It should be noted that, apart from problematic afforestation areas, it will be harmful invasive. Chinese elm (Ulmus Parvifolia) is less aggressive and a little less tolerant to drought. Its wood is a bit more useful.
This, but it also typically dies much faster. I have a friend who owns a plot of land in the country in SE Wyoming, where these trees were planted when the land was originally homesteaded. New trees sprout all the time, everywhere you don’t want them, and they can easily get to 40 feet tall in 20 years, but they also often die after only about 30 years.
Have to typically cut it back to about a foot above the ground or so, than spot treat the freshly cut trunk with herbicides, of it will just resprout from where you cut it.
