Ulmus Lutece 12L

Lutèce brings the classic English elm back into the garden and landscape. It is a hybrid bred specifically for its resistance to Dutch elm disease, the fungus that wiped out most of Britain's elms from the 1970s onwards. It was raised in the Netherlands and then tested by INRA in France for around 20 years before its release in 2002. The name comes from Lutetia, the old Roman name for Paris, in recognition of the city's parks department, which hosted a trial plot in the Bois de Vincennes. It is now planted widely across French cities, and it has become one of the most commonly planted resistant elms in Britain. It has also been found supporting breeding colonies of the rare white-letter hairstreak butterfly, which feeds only on elm.

The tree has smooth bark and dense, dark green foliage. The leaves are true elm leaves, rough to the touch and uneven at the base, and they turn golden yellow in autumn. Small clusters of red flowers appear on the bare branches in early spring. Lutèce is vigorous and fast-growing, eventually reaching around 10m tall and 6m wide. It suits a larger garden, a field boundary or a woodland edge. It also takes well to hard pruning, so it can be grown as a multi-stemmed shrub or as part of a mixed native-style hedge. Plant in any reasonable, well-drained soil in sun or light shade. Water well through its first summer while it establishes. Shape it, if needed, in late winter.

Each tree is hand-selected before dispatch.

Available from Pengelly Garden Centre.