Nine Elms and beyond …

Explore Wandsworth’s ‘known’ elms and join the search for more.

Any story about Wandsworth’s elm trees must surely start with the nine elm trees at Nine Elms (pictured above) opposite the US Embassy on Nine Elms Lane,  on the Thames riverside.

How they came to be there, is testimony to the work of the Conservation Foundation and others, who realised the importance of keeping the natural connection to the site’s name and replaced trees lost to Dutch Elm Disease in the 1970’s. As trees have been lost they have been replaced - the 8th and ninth trees pictured here, were added in 2019 by Wandsworth Council and the local community.

In 2021 The Urban Tree Festival presented, in its TreeRings series, a webinar about these special trees - watch it here now

The nine elms at Nine Elms are now recognised as a significant part of London’s living elm tree heritage . Here is the Conservation Foundation’s map of this heritage including other trees you can see across London

Wandsworth’s elm story doesn’t end with the nine trees at Nine Elms though.

To celebrate the Urban Tree Festival this year, Wandsworth tree officer, Sam Morgan, collaberated with Wandsworth resident, Simon Edwards @TiCLme, to photograph and create a map and TiCL App guide to all Wandsworth’s ‘known’ elms. At the time of writing the map looks like this, but is being updated all the time with new specimens that the public can see, as more are discovered, and as new trees are planted.

You can view the current online map by clicking here:

Top Tip: Elms come in all shapes and sizes, but you know you’ve found one if it has an asymmetric leaf base and pointed oval leaves with one side of the leaf more lobed than the other at the stalk.

So for Urban Tree Festival 2022:

Get familiar with Wandsworth’s elms - go and take a look at them, learn to recognise them and love them.

Can you help us find more of Wandsworth’s elms?’

We know there are more elms out there to find. Can you help us find them?

We are only looking for elm trees that are in, or visible from, public space, becuase we’ll add discoveries to the map for people to visit. Perhaps you’ll be planting one this year as part of the MPGA’s Elms4London project or the Queen’s Canopy project? Perhaps you have one in your front garden that people can see from the street?

Do let us know :

You can add to the map directly with TiCL App or email your find with the elm’s location (what3words), photograph (and name to credit) to contact@ticl.me