At Native Forest Nursery we grow bare root seedlings and #3 container trees. Our container trees are grown in a #3 air pruned pot. This root making container eliminates nearly all potential for root wrapping. This allows for an excellent root structure and delivers an extremely healthy tree. The bare root seedlings at our nursery are grown in a sandy loam soil with high organic matter content, which provides an extremely healthy environment for our seedlings. Our bare root liners and seedlings are hand lifted, packaged, and kept in cold storage until you are ready to plant. Conservation uses for our products include reclamation, mitigation, reforestation, restoration, wildlife habitat improvement and wetland uses. Horticultural uses for our products include field liners, container liners, landscape plantings, budding stock, grafting stock and ornamental uses.

Family: Ulmaceae
Latin Name: Ulmus americana 'Princeton'
Foliage: Dark green
Fall Foliage: Yellow
Bloom: Insignificant
Bloom Time: March to April
Shape: Vase-shaped with rounded crowns
Bark: Dark gray and furrowed
Sun: Full sun
Zone: Zone 3 to Zone 9
Size: 50 to 70 feet
Spread: 30 to 50 feet
Care: Medium, well drained soil

The Princeton Elm—or Ulmus Americana “Princeton” of the Ulmaceae botanical family—originated in the 1920s, prized for its vigorous growth rate (4-6 ft. per year), high and shady canopy, excellent disease and pest tolerance, and its outstanding 95% survival rate from all causes. Tall, graceful, and hardy, Ulmus Americana “Princeton” has graced many a famous lawn. In 2005, these elms were selected and planted along all three blocks of Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House, as a tribute to the American Elm and its place in national history. A year later, Prince Charles selected 66 Princeton Elms to be planted along the lane of his country palace, Highgrove House, in the United Kingdom.

This tree stretches up to an impressive 50-70 ft., with its branches spreading out to a span of roughly 30-50 ft., forming an upright, vase-shaped, round-crowned structure. It has a laudable soil salt and pH tolerance, and a versatile 3-9 hardiness zone rating. The Princeton Elm’s flowers are greenish-red, small, and humble, appearing in March and April; its bark is gray and furrowed. Soaking up the sun and flourishing in medium, well-drained soils, the Princeton Elm displays most of its beauty in its lush foliage: dense, dark green, and providing ample shade, lightening to glowing shades of gold and bronze in the autumn and providing expansive bursts of brilliant color alongside urban streets and country lanes.

The American Elm once reigned in the United States as the ultimate shade tree of choice for many generations prior to WWII—it is no coincidence, in fact, that “Elm Street” is widely considered to be the most popular street name in the nation. After the Dutch elm disease wiped out millions of American Elms, botanists and scientists teamed up to fight back and breed a species of elm that could parallel the strength, grace, and geographic malleability of the original American Elm. Among the many elm tree varieties that have since originated, the Princeton Elm is an extremely commendable variation.