Ulmus glabra Lutescens Golden Elm

Position and soil. Full or part sun, by both the ACT Government's sheet and the Plant Selector+. The ACT sheet says it suits most soils but prefers moist, well-drained ones; the Plant Selector+ gives clay, loam or sand, acid to alkaline, and moderate supplementary watering, and says it can take some dry periods and a range of urban sites but does best in moist, well-drained soil. It also ticks pollution and waterlogging.

Climate. The ACT sheet gives high frost and high drought tolerance, and rates it fast-growing and long-lived. No reference read gives a frost figure in degrees.

Pests and disease. The ACT sheet says it is prone to elm leaf beetle and Dutch elm disease and attracts beetles; the RHS (UK) adds aphids, bark beetles, scale and elm gall mites, coral spot, honey fungus and Phytophthora.

Pruning. Its branches start low, by the ACT sheet, and the lower ones may need lifting so that mowers and service vehicles can pass underneath. HortFlora, by contrast, has the branches starting a few metres above the ground.

The ACT Government lists golden elm for parks as a shade tree, and says it is not suitable as a street tree or beside paths because of its low branching, should not be planted near nature reserves, creeks or watercourses, and is best kept to limited park plantings and to replacing existing trees, because of the disease threats. It asks for at least 45 cubic metres of soil per tree. The Plant Selector+ says it is better suited to larger parks and gardens. In New South Wales, the HortOS guide to car park shade trees shows it in the new street tree planting section of Camden Council's tree list, at 10 m tall and 12 m wide.

HortFlora says the tree is often sold incorrectly as 'Louis van Houtte', a smaller-leaved cultivar of another elm, so check the botanical name on a grower's line. The table above shows the sizes growers list. The guide to specifying and procuring trees covers what to set out in an order for advanced stock, and the nursery plant quality guide what to check before it leaves the grower. Stock moving between states travels under the state and territory biosecurity rules like any other plant.

The ACT Government says its roots may sucker when damaged by excavation, and that it should not be planted near nature reserves, creeks or watercourses. It rates it low in flammability.