In his inaugural column as the Boston Globe’s Ask the Gardener, Uli Lorimer advises homeowners losing Beech Trees to a new and deadly disease to consider native replacements with high ecological values.
There’s nothing quite like Fagus grandifolia, American Beech, with its soaring, gray trunks that have been compared to elephants’ legs, and a sprawling canopy packed with dark green leaves turning golden in the fall.
Dark stripes on those beautiful leaves in early spring are a key sign that the disease, caused by a microscopic worm, or nematode, has taken hold. It does not take more than a few years for the worm to bring down the tree.
If you love Beech, you could try to fend off the worm (see sidebar below). Or, you could look at substitutions, magnificent in their own rights, that share similarities with Beech.
Here are suggestions for alternatives to Beech based on: stature, yellow fall color and use as a hedge.
Stature
American Elm, Ulmus americana, resembles Beech with its spreading crown, overall height and width, look-alike leaves and yellow fall color.
It unfortunately also shares a history of falling prey to a devastating disease, this one a fungus. Dutch Elm Disease just about wiped out every Elm tree across the country in the early 1900s.
Cultivars resistant to the fungus are available and believed to offer wildlife benefits similar to the straight species.
Elm trees are larval hosts to the Mourning Cloak and Painted Lady butterflies and various moth species. Birds and small mammals eat the seeds.
At Tree Talk Natives, we have one remaining ‘Jefferson’ Elm and are looking into adding a few more for next spring.
Fun fact: All ‘Jefferson’ Elms are cloned from a single, resistant tree on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. (see photo above).
Basswood, Tilia americana, also is a giant like the Beech, and it has lovely flowers that bloom in summer. Basswood is so valuable to pollinators it is nicknamed the bee tree because of all the buzzing.
The leaves are heart shaped and medium green, turning yellow in the fall.
Fun fact :)
Southern beekeepers bring their hives up north during the summer so their bees can have access to Basswood blooms.
Yellow Fall
While the two trees above have yellow fall foliage, like the Beech, here’s a few that may not resemble Beech as closely in form but still offer beautiful yellow fall foliage.
Tulip Poplar, Liriodendron tulipifera, is in the Magnolia family and features a magnificently tall, straight trunk. It’s among the tallest trees around, topping out at 70 to 90 feet.
Tulip Poplar’s canopy also tends to be pretty far up, and it has lovely green leaves that look a bit like a frog’s foot. Its tulip-like flowers make Tulip Poplar a favorite among pollinators, although the blooms can be difficult for us ground-dwellers to see.
Tulip Poplar hosts caterpillars of the Swallowtail and other butterflies and moth species. Birds love to nest in the canopies, and the flowers also attract hummingbirds.
Yellowwood, Cladrastis kentuckea, is a bit of an outlier in my blog here because of its stature, reaching heights of just 30 to 50 feet. And, its native range is primarily southern, although it is hardy to New England.
Yellowwood features golden yellow fall foliage and smooth, gray bark–a lot like the Beech.
It also has a spreading crown, up to 40 feet, and its fragrant, spring, wisteria-like blooms are a favorite of bees.
At Tree Talk Natives, we have Yellowwood seedlings and hope to have small trees available for 2025.
For Hedges:
Beech trees of late have become popular as a heavily pruned deciduous hedge. In my neighborhood in Mattapoisett, beech tree hedges in at least two yards that I’m aware of are succumbing to the disease.
As an alternative, try American Hornbeam, Carpinus caroliniana. Like Beech, its leaves turn yellow in the fall--and often shades of red and purple. A bonus?
This tree colors best in sun but also tolerates full shade. It’s a larval host for several butterflies including the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, and songbirds, squirrels, wild turkeys, ruffed grouse, foxes and other critters eat the seeds and buds.
Sidebar -- Medicine for Beech Trees?
No one yet knows how to combat Beech Leaf Disease, however researchers have had good results drenching the soil around beech trees with a special phosphite fertilizer.
Trees are treated twice a year from May through August for five years. The phosphite is diluted and poured into a trench circling the trunk.
About the author:
Jennifer Anderson founded and runs Tree Talk Natives, a native tree and plant nursery in Rochester, Mass. A former news reporter, she loves to talk native plants and can be reached at jennifer@treetalknatives.com.
Sources:
Beech leaf disease: An emerging forest threat in Eastern U.S. USDA Forest Service. September 15, 2023.
Cullina, W. Native Trees, Shrubs & Vines. New England Wild Flower Society, 2002. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, pp: 93.
Davis, R. American Basswood. Forests for the Bay.
Faubert, H. Beech Leaf Disease Treatment. University of Rhode Island College of the Environment and Life Sciences. April 13, 2023.
Hartley, S. In New England, a tree-killing worm may spell the end of autumn’s yellow hues. Boston Globe. June 12, 2024.
Lorimer, U. Ask the Gardener. Boston Globe. September 1, 2024, p. H2.
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