Field Elm (Ulmus minor) – Cell Grown Trees & Saplings 15-30cm

Field Elm (Ulmus minor) – Benefits and Uses

View larger image

Field Elm Saplings (Ulmus minor) – Fast-Growing Hedging for Exposed and Challenging Sites

Our young Field Elm (Ulmus minor) cell-grown trees are fast-growing saplings most useful for traditional country hedges (ones without shopping trollies and traffic cones in them), field boundaries, mixed native hedging, urban/roadside planting, coastal country hedges and very informal rural hedges rather than tightly clipped ornamental garden hedging.^[28][23] Field Elm has no thorns, making it a useful alternative where prickly branches are unwanted, such as alongside paths.^[8] They are an economical way to plant longer boundaries with small hedging plants instead of established trees.^[21]

Field Elm is particularly versatile on challenging sites, tolerating salt-laden coastal winds, summer drought, occasional flooding and urban pollution.^[28] This combination makes it especially useful for long boundaries where conditions vary between summer dryness and seasonal wetness. It also achieves H7, the RHS's highest winter hardiness rating, tolerating temperatures below -20°C.^[5]

Another advantage is its ability to regenerate from established stumps after cutting.^[28][34]

As a fast-growing pioneer tree (one of the first species to literally take root), Field Elm is also useful for woodland-edge planting and mixed broadleaved schemes.^[32] Its foliage provides essential food for some insects.^[4]

Field Elm tree – Spring Flowers, Glossy Leaves and Yellow Autumn Colour

Also known as Smooth-leaved Elm, Field Elm has glossy green, finely toothed leaves, typically 6–15cm long, with the uneven bases characteristic of elms.^[7] Small, reddish Field Elm flowers appear in February and March before the foliage and are followed by papery, winged fruits that are carried by the wind.^[7]

In autumn the leaves turn yellow before falling.^[5][7] Older trees develop ridged grey-brown bark, and some forms produce corky ridges on their twigs.^[7] It is a deciduous tree, so the leafy summer appearance gives way to open branches in winter.^[5]

Field Elm Hedgerow Trees – Mature Size, Soils and Planting Positions

A Field Elm tree sapling left to grow naturally can eventually reach approximately 30m x 15m.^[8]

Field Elm grows in full sun or partial shade and is suited to fertile, well-drained soil, although it will tolerate some wet ground.^[5] It accepts acidic, neutral and alkaline ground.^[5][31] Suitable soil types include

• Chalk: suitable; the species can favour calcareous conditions.^[5][8]
• Loam and sand: both are listed as suitable.^[5]
• Clay: supported where drainage is adequate.^[31]

Managing Field Elm – Trimming, Coppicing and Pollarding

Field Elm can be managed as an informal hedge or cut back periodically to control its size and encourage fresh growth. Two traditional methods are coppicing and pollarding, both of which allow an established tree to produce repeated harvests of useful wood without felling it permanently.^[28][33]

Coppicing means cutting the tree close to ground level and allowing several new stems to grow from the stump. Pollarding works differently: the upper branches are cut back to the same points on a standing trunk, above the reach of grazing animals. New branches grow from these points and can be harvested every few years.^[33][36]

For farmers, smallholders and woodland owners, the harvested branches can provide several useful products:

• Firewood – thicker branches can be cut into logs for heating.^[36]
• Stakes and supports – straight coppiced stems can be cut into useful poles for jobs around the farm, smallholding or garden.^[32]
• Woodchips – smaller branches can be chipped for garden paths or used as mulch to help suppress weeds and retain soil moisture.^[37]

Elm leaves and leafy branches were also traditionally harvested as livestock fodder. Pollarding keeps fresh growth above the reach of grazing animals, protecting it until harvest. By regularly reducing the tree's crown, it also allows more sunlight to reach pasture or crops beneath, helping farmers make productive use of the same land for both trees and grazing.^[35][36]

Field Elm's strong, splitting-resistant hardwood has been used for furniture, flooring and tool handles. Mature elm timber was also historically used for boats and wooden water pipes because of its durability when kept wet.

For ordinary hedgerows, regular trimming has another potential benefit. Keeping elm stems shorter may make them less attractive to the bark beetles that spread Dutch elm disease.^[1]

Field Elm Hedge Plants – Disease, Root Suckers and Other Limitations

Dutch elm disease is the most important drawback of ordinary Field Elm. It is spread by elm bark beetles and can kill infected trees.^[1][2] Smaller hedgerow elms can regenerate, but they are not immune.^[1]