Princeton American Elms from Around the Country!

I have been receiving photos of the Princeton American Elm from homeowners all over the US! I expect more as the Winter and Spring arrive and as more people take additional photos. Some of the fall color on the Elms has not been as good this year due to drought conditions. The American Elm tends to drop its leaves in drought conditions or have a short window of fall color. Enjoy some of the photos and I look forward to seeing some of your photos and stories as well.

One key to remember with the Princeton American Em is that it is a deep rooted tree, not a shallow rooted tree. This helps with many of the North Grasses like Fescue and Bluegrass. These grasses do not need a shallow rooted tree taking its available water and nutrients from them like Maples and Birch would. The "vase shape" of the Princeton American Elm lets light come to the grass without low branching that would otherwise cause shadows. Because of this feature and with its deep roots, water and nutrients are available for your grass.

Scott Bublitz From the Chicago Area
with his Princeton American Elm &
nice fescue lawn. Scott was able to
see some nice Fall color this year!

Many families have told me how important it is for them to have a tree in their yard that is not wide until it gets older. They want to maximize their yards, but also provide shade for their home. This was important with Bob and his Princeton American Elm, which is now 7" in just 5 years of growth.



Additionally, families are asking where can purchasethe Princeton American Elm. We have been working with many Garden Centers all over the US and have had great success in connecting homeowners and Garden Centers in their communities. We have a list of distributors on the blog here and also on our web site http://www.sharptoptree.com/. You can call or email me and I will let you know of recent shipments or about future shipments to your area. We are expanding the distributors with each week and hope to have one or more in each state and hopefully in a city/town near you. If you know of any good Garden Centers to contact, then also let me know and I will contact them as well.



Bob's nice 7" Caliper Princeton
American Elm - Notice the nice
Grass growing to the trunk of
Tree.


Below is a shipment of 10 trees we sent to Blue Hill Maine. Wow, is that a cool place or what? It is a nice little Garden Center with a LOT of character.



Althea (Owner of Mainscape Garden Center) in Blue Hill Maine took some nice trees this Fall. See her Princeton here, just off the truck and waiting to be sold. Many of the Garden Centers are taking trees with pre-bookings from customers. This has been especially popular with the homeowners and Garden Center owners as they have not had to carry a lot of inventory and also because the homeowner is getting the tree they asked for by caliper and height. They are not just picking up what has been leftover or hanging around the yard.


As the weather cools in the East coast and Mid-Atlantic region, the planting of trees will slow down. These areas are already looking toward Spring.


Cities like Chattanooga, TN and Great Barrington, MA have are a couple of "hot" areas for Garden Center Sales for the Princeton American Elm. We are so grateful to all those Centers who have taken the Princeton.


Check out our Florida Princeton American Elm (below) in Tallahassee. Even in the Sunshine state, the Princeton American elm is thriving! With Zones 2b to 9, this is one of the widest ranging shade trees out there. Kent planted this Princeton in his front yard last October. We are looking forward to more pictures from Kent on his Sunshine Princeton American Elm.











This is a nice 4" Princeton American elm in fall color near the Campus of GA Tech University in
Atlanta.




We are looking for more photos and stories from around the country on your Princeton American Elms. I look forward to hearing them. Please send us your photos and we will put them on the blog for all to see. Thanks and talk to you soon!



Here is a picture of a 5.5" Princeton American Elm planted as a memorial tree for a local family as requested by the diseased family member. This is becoming more and more prevelant as people are looking for a historic tree that fits the deep rooting, upright "vase shape" of the Princeton American Elm.
In addition, clients are also looking for something of historical value, such as the Princeton Elm. It has been around as a native and found in the wilds in the 1900's.

Bare Root Liners This Winter Finally Available!!!!

We here at Sharp Top Trees are very excited to finally offer Bare Root Liners to the industry and homeowners alike this Winter. After many years of learning the technique of propagation, applying this to our field and container stock, we are now ready to release the smallest of the Princeton American Elms as Bare Root Liners.


This is our Bare Root Liner Field of Princeton American Elms. With 10's of Thousands growing
as we speak.

This is no easy program. With birds and rats and rabbits constantly pecking or chewing holes in the irrigation lines, our staff works daily to replace and repair vital water lines to keep the nutrients flowing to our trees so that they may continue to grow vigorously.

The trees are typically 3/4" in caliper and 8'+ in height. These are called "Lightly Branched" Bare Root Liners. We will also have a limited number of 1" caliper of the same. These are typically dug in the Winter when they are completely dormant. Here in Georgia, sometime in mid-January is the ideal time.

We are also currently working with UPS on the shipping of our trees in special boxes and withprotective wrapping to keep the trees moist, but without being susceptible to the formation of disease.

Climate Control Information: Once dug, the Bare Root liners will have a shelf life of four months or so until before they must be planted. A cool dry climate is the key for this longevity to remain in place until the tree is planted.

Planting Care: Many Nursery and Homeowners will take the Bare Root liners and plant them in the field or into pots. These will have a substantial root system ready for both. Staking of the trees will be crucial, as the large leathery leaves in Spring will act like sails and tentx to keep the plant swaying in the wind. In the container, field or at your house, these will need to be staked to 8' as suggested.

Below is a picture of the Bare Root Princeton American Elm growing in its row along with its fellow clones. They are all perfect clones of each other, taken from cuttings over two years ago.

Once planted, these Princeton American Elms will reachtwo-inch calipers within the next growing season or season and a half. Much of it will depend on the growing season in your area, but it is not uncommon for the Princeton to grow 1" caliper and 3' to 6' per year.

As our growing cycle continues, we hope to have a continual supply of the Bare Root liners available each and Winter and Spring. Many of our liners go into the field to produce larger Princeton American Elms along with larger container elms. Feel free to call or email us for more questions about the Princeton American Elm and why it is a great elm for your Nursery, Garden Center, City or Home.

Plant a tree as they say, but just make sure it is a Princeton American Elm!

Transplant of Princeton Elm in same container for 5 years

Monday, August 4th, Scott and I were wanting to see how a Princeton Elm was tolerating being planted in High 90-Degree temps. There were two factors that made this very difficult for the tree.

1. The 15 gallon Princeton was in the same container for 5 years and we did not know what to expect?

2. We blew off all the soil from the roots to exposed the roots only and left the tree laying in the full sun for three hours without it being protected.

The temperatures were in the mid 90's and rising to around 98 degrees. We had a heat index of over 100 degrees.

Observations:

The first thing we noticed was that the roots were not coming out of the pot. There was some circling, but they were a smaller type of root. The roots were of a small, size (the size of a spaghetti noodle or so). We were surprised that the roots were not larger and weren't really roping around the container. See the below photos.







After getting all the soil out of the ball, we left the tree lying there for approximately three hours.


Later that afternoon, we took the tree, basically bare root now and planted it near our office. Amazingly, it did not wilt or seem to miss a beat! We watered it once a day for five minutes with the hose. Here a picture of the tree today - August 8th, at 4:32 pm.



What A Great Tree!!!! The Princeton American Elm - order yours today!

THIS TREE IS FAST GROWING

The Princeton American Elm tree is a very fast growing tree. It grows 3 to 6' a year and is very strong. It is not like other fast growing trees that get brittle, it maintains a very strong new growth and is not prone to splitting like some of the Chinese Lacebark elms, Sycamores or Tulip Poplars.

The Princeton American Elm is also extremely urban tolerant. It is the most urban tolerant tree I have ever seen.

Welcome!

We here at Sharp Top Trees are excited to start posting periodic information about the ongoing Princeton American Elm tree project. Please check in from time to time to see what is happening with the trees that you are soon to see at a garden center near you.