The decision to fell the elms followed an inventory last summer that identified 365 trees affected by elm disease, a fungal disease that specifically attacks this species. Elm disease spreads quickly and has increased in recent years. The felling began in November, and this week, operations started in Söderlingska trädgården, Trädgårdsföreningen, and on Älvsborgsgatan. The felling is estimated to continue for about another month. This summer, the city environment administration will conduct a new inventory of the 400 elms remaining on the city's maintenance map, which mainly consists of park and avenue trees.
Replanting after the elm disease will start along Delsjövägen, where 32 trees will be planted at the end of March. To replace the elms there, forest oak, alder, and ash will be planted, which also exist elsewhere in the avenue today. A new addition to the avenue will be the Norway maple, a popular native species that gets good conditions with much space along Delsjövägen. In some places, for example in avenues, they will continue planting the same species to create a uniform appearance.
In Vasaparken, among others, the native beech with its beautiful characteristic leaves will replace the old elms. Plane tree and hop hornbeam will be planted at the park's outer edges adjacent to the hard-surfaced street since these species are more drought-tolerant. In Renströmska parken, willow and common alder will now take root near the water lily pond since these species thrive in somewhat moister soils. Oaks will take place in both Renströmska and Vasaparken with beautiful tree crowns that suit park environments well.
During the spring, the municipality will plant new trees around Heden, at Vasaparken, Renströmska parken, and on Delsjövägen. Other places where new trees will replace elms in the spring are at Charles Felix Lindbergs Plats and at Heden. The new trees will, as much as possible, be placed where the old tree stood to preserve the parks' cultural environment.
The new trees will be of several different species and a mix between native and non-native tree species. Greater variation provides protection against many trees being affected by the same disease. Some foreign trees are more drought-tolerant and therefore better equipped for a warmer and drier climate in a city with many hard-surfaced areas. Overall, they are working with higher species diversity.
Aesthetic values are woven into the tree choices to preserve the parks' cultural environment, i.e., style, form, and feel. Many people think it is sad that the elms are being felled, and some are against them being felled at all.
The replanting work will continue for several years ahead since it involves such large quantities. The exact timeline for completion of all replanting efforts across the city and the total number of trees planned to replace all the felled elms have not been specified. The specific criteria for selecting which tree species to plant in each location and measures to ensure the new trees are protected from similar diseases in the future also remain unclear.