800-year-old elm tree believed to be Europe's oldest, dying from disease

[Still Waters]

What is believed to be Europe's oldest elm tree has succumbed to Dutch Elm Disease and is dying, say experts.

The wych elm at Beauly in the Highlands is almost 800 years old, with references to the tree found in records going back to medieval times.

Historic Environment Scotland (HES) has laser-scanned the elm as part of work to document ancient Scottish trees.

The tree is at Beauly Priory, which was built for monks of the Valliscaulian order.

Sarah Franklin, a landscape manager at HES, said historical documents confirmed the existence of the elm at the time the priory was established in the 1230s.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-58013952

[Still Waters]

A celebration is to be held for a dying ancient tree in a Highland village.

Beauly's wych elm is thought to be the oldest of its species in Europe at almost 800 years old.

References to the tree at the ruins of Beauly Priory have been found in records going back to medieval times.

But it has succumbed to Dutch Elm Disease and buds seen last year are believed to have been its last.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c727k5pgkzdo

[lightly]

  Sad story .   I wish they could cure Dutch Elm disease.

[+Desertrat56]

16 minutes ago, lightly said:

  Sad story .   I wish they could cure Dutch Elm disease.

Where I live elm trees are invasive weeds.   It is sad when a tree gets so old and then gets a disease.

[lightly]

The elm trees here in n. Michigan are almost gone…died off from Dutch Elm disease.   We have one right behind our house.  They stand for years and years …barren, and eventually bark less.

[+Desertrat56]

6 minutes ago, lightly said:

The elm trees here in n. Michigan are almost gone…died off from Dutch Elm disease.   We have one right behind our house.  They stand for years and years …barren, and eventually bark less.

We have some old elm trees in the neighborhood and everyone who doesn't have elm trees (or rather doesn't want them) curses those people every spring and summer, because of the plethora of elm seeds that are scattered for miles around every tree.   It is illegal to plant an elm tree on purpose in this city (as well as mulberry).   They take too much water and their roots destroy plumbing trying to find water.  Every year a few get past me and in the fall I have a tree I have to cut with a saw and dig 3 feet deep to get all the roots.   There is one in the side yard I have dug up over and over but some roots still survive.   I pour clorox on them and that slows them down, but still the roots are so long I can't get it all.

[lightly]

Amazing!   Here they can find fairly shallow water nearly anywhere.  I don’t remember them being a problem here.    ??

[+Desertrat56]

11 minutes ago, lightly said:

Amazing!   Here they can find fairly shallow water nearly anywhere.  I don’t remember them being a problem here.    ??

There are no puddles of water here, if we get rain, usually you can't tell a few hours later.  If we get a good rain you do see wet dirt 24 hours later but that does not happen very often.   Albuquerque is in a high desert climate (over 5500 feet above sea level, annual precipitation fall 9 to 11 inches, but we have been experiencing a drought for a few years until this year)

[lightly]

Yup, we drive right through Albuquerque  (on old Route 66) every fall and spring for the last 8 years..  we’ll HONK! at ya this fall. 

Edited September 24, 2022 by lightly

[Myles]

I don't mean to sound heartless, but it is just a tree.   It is historic of course but I don't tear up because it is gone.   I plant another.   Maybe 2 if the foot print is big enough.   I have lost many very old (not as old as this one, of course) trees on my property.   A hundred year old black walnut last year.   I had to cut that one down because it started dying from the inside out and it was close to the house.   Of course lost all the ash trees 15 years ago.  

[+Desertrat56]

On 9/24/2022 at 7:43 AM, lightly said:

Yup, we drive right through Albuquerque  (on old Route 66) every fall and spring for the last 8 years..  we’ll HONK! at ya this fall. 

I live almost close enough to I-40 and I-25 to hear that honk.  

[Still Waters]

A tree believed to be Europe's oldest wych elm has fallen down in a Highland village after succumbing to Dutch Elm Disease.

The so-called Beauly Elm - which was believed to be almost 800 years old - had stood at the entrance to Beauly Priory.

An event to celebrate its life was held in the village last October.

References to the tree have been found in records going back to medieval times.

Local artist Isabel McLeish, who recently worked on a project on the Beauly Elm, said it was "very unexpected and very sad" to hear the tree had come down.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-64176914

[+Desertrat56]

It is sad when an old tree dies.  My brother has a cottonwood tree that is hundreds of years old.  It is slowly succumbing to age but hanging in there.  He has had to cut some of the dead branches off.

[Myles]

20 hours ago, Desertrat56 said:

It is sad when an old tree dies.  My brother has a cottonwood tree that is hundreds of years old.  It is slowly succumbing to age but hanging in there.  He has had to cut some of the dead branches off.

I wish my cottonwoods would die.  The previous owner planted them in the front yard 40-50 years ago.   They are great shade trees.  But the 2 times a year that they are awful gets old.   In the spring there is a 2-3 week period where they drop saplings.   These stick to vehicles, shoes and anything else.  End up in the house quite a bit.   Then in the fall you get the cotton.   The ground is covered in it and the wind blows it everywhere.   It also gets tracked into the house and garage.   I feel for my neighbor.  They live west of my front yard.  They are my closest neighbor at about 150 feet from the house.  They have in ground pool that gets the cotton blew into it each year.  

[+Desertrat56]

17 minutes ago, Myles said:

I wish my cottonwoods would die.  The previous owner planted them in the front yard 40-50 years ago.   They are great shade trees.  But the 2 times a year that they are awful gets old.   In the spring there is a 2-3 week period where they drop saplings.   These stick to vehicles, shoes and anything else.  End up in the house quite a bit.   Then in the fall you get the cotton.   The ground is covered in it and the wind blows it everywhere.   It also gets tracked into the house and garage.   I feel for my neighbor.  They live west of my front yard.  They are my closest neighbor at about 150 feet from the house.  They have in ground pool that gets the cotton blew into it each year.  

I would rather put up with the cotton wood messes than the elm tree seeds.   There is never any way to get rid of all of them so the sping is spent pulling up the seedlings or digging out the ones that were missed the year before.  There is a city ordinance now that no one can plant new elm trees or mulberry trees (both have root systems that destroy sewer lines).   But there is no rule that says anyone with an old elm tree has to cut it down.