The Message Board

Chinese Elm Tree

Posted 169 days ago

Dear Don,
PLEASE HELP ME. In 1994 or 95 ish u were passing through Adelaide and stopped by my little designer house in Prospect. We had an L shaped courtyard with all surrounding sliding glass doors. We were not sure how to keep the house cool with natural shade and you suggested a chinese Elm Tree because from memory it provided shade 75%, The root system would work well with the pavers and it would grow nice umbrella shape. 15 years later the tree has just grown crazy. We rented the house out to tenants for 10 years and only just got it back. the tree must be over 20ft high. The leaves have blocked all the gutters and it seems that sprouts of new growth are now growing in the gutters. Leaves fall daily at a rate that is almost unbearable, making it high maintanance. The tree has been neglegted in terms of pruning but we were under the impression it was a low maintanance tree. My 18 yr old son has since moved in and after 12 months he finds the courtyard hard to manage. Looking out from the inside it just looks a constant mess. I must say that the amount of glass does put the Aircon working to its limits and im sure this tree helps a lot to keep it cooler but the mess is so bad we dont know what to do. Do we remove it and find another solution or can we somehow maintain in and cut down the size. Obviously cost is a factor as we are livving OSeas and my son Master 18 currently lives with 2 others who also have yard disease. Please help advise us, i appreciate it greatly. ps i can send a photo of it.