Fast-growing, small-shade tree drake elm has adapted well to area
As we continue discussing trees that are a good choice for local homeowners, this week we focus on the drake elm. The “Drake” – scientific name ulmus parvifolia -- is a very good, small, fast-growing semi-evergreen tree.
This tree is a Chinese elm and drake is a popular cultivar widely used in the area. The drake elm has a fast rate of growth, especially for the first eight to 10 years. It averages about 30-feet tall and 20-feet wide. Do not confuse this tree with the Siberian elm. The drake elm is a much-better, longer-lasting tree than the Siberian.
With our cold winter this year, you will notice that it also is a deciduous tree as the leaves have all fallen off this year.
Here are the drake’s brief recognition factors:
On the other hand, some of the negative aspects of this tree are that it has a tendency to have a heavy canopy and may require support; they can fall over if not properly planted. They also tend to have girdling roots that can kill the tree three to four years after planting.
The solution to this is when planting run a knife down two sides of the root ball to cut any potential girdling roots.
Overall, this is a very good, fast-growing shade tree that has adapted well in our area.
Some of our native, flowering trees that have pretty flowers include dogwood, redbud, mayhaw, parsley hawthorn, plums, silverbell and red maple. Others that have been introduced to the state and flower in late winter and early spring include Bradford pear, Japanese magnolia and Taiwan cherry.
Taiwan cherry is an early flowering tree with rosy-pink flowers. Bradford pear flowers are white, and Japanese magnolias are purple to rose colored. Dogwoods are popular, small trees but require an acid pH soil and are often problematic in our area. Silverbell may do better and has white, bell-shaped flowers. Red maples produce bright-red flowers on female trees in late winter. Their fruit also is a bright-red samara that is more conspicuous than the flowers and is showing up now.
The Drummond red maple is a much better and longer-lasting tree than the swamp red maple and the silver maple.
With all of the rain that we have received, I have been getting a lot of calls about millipedes making their way onto driveways, patios and inside the home. These pests are about an inch long with a hard outer shell and many legs. They don’t pose much of a threat and are mainly a nuisance. Sweep them out or vacuum them out of the home. If you feel you have to treat, spray with 2 percent Malathion or 0.15 percent pyrethrins. Treat areas around foundations, walkways, carports and treat flower beds heavily mulched.
Treatment inside the home is generally not practical.
Question: Can I spray Roundup in my garden now to kill weeds?
Answer: A nonselective, postemerge glyphosate product can be used before planting or crop emergence on actively growing weeds. Avoid spray drift to desirable plants. Spray weeds until they are wet but not until they are dripping. Read and follow label directions.
Crops labeled include beets, carrots, celery, corn, Cole crops, English and southern peas, Irish potatoes, Jerusalem artichoke, lima and snap beans, lettuce, greens, okra, onion, garlic, peanuts, radish, soybeans, sweet potatoes and asparagus (before spears appear). Most of these listed can be planted after 10 days from a glyphosate spraying, but read the label for specific crop-planting times after spraying.
Barton Joffrion is a county agent for the LSU AgCenter. He can be reached at (985) 873-6495, bjoffrion@agcenter.lsu.edu or the AcCenter’s Web site at www.lsuagcenter.com.