Claremont : Disease-Resistant Elm Trees

Parkways along the 400 and 500 blocks of 11th Street will be the first in the state to be planted with three new kinds of elm trees designed to be disease-resistant.

City and state officials will hold a ceremony at 9 a.m. Saturday to mark the planting of 25 to 30 trees, about 8 to 10 feet tall, that were grown from cuttings provided to the state Department of Forestry by the National Arboretum in Washington.

The new trees were developed to resist Dutch elm disease, which has caused the loss of 100 million elm trees nationwide. Dale Kuehnert, city park planner, said 11th Street is known for its elms, but its trees have been in decline because of Dutch elm disease. The new trees will replace some of the elms that have been lost.