I bought a house last year that has a lot of Elm trees in the yard. Many of
the trees were dead when I bought the house and several more appear to be dying
at the present time. I am guessing that they have Dutch elm disease. I would
like to know how Dutch elm disease is spread from one tree to another. Can it
be spread by burning wood from an infected tree? If I cut the trees down and
burn the wood is that a safe way to help slow the spreading of the disease?
What other methods can be used to stop the spread of the disease?

Dutch Elm Disease is spread by a species of beetle. It is not an
airborne organism.

Burning the wood destroys the fungus but not the beetles; they have
moved on by the time the tree dies. I don’t think there is any
practical means of controlling the beetle.

I am guessing that they have Dutch elm disease.

One of the early symptoms is leaves “flagging”, prematurely turning yellow.
If you cut and split wood from a tree that has died from the disease, you
can see black lines in the wood, evidence of the fungus. You may also be
able to see tiny holes in the bark, from the elm bark beetles.

like to know how Dutch elm disease is spread from one tree to another.

The fungus is spread in two ways, by elm bark beetles, and in group
plantings from tree to tree if they happen to form root grafts.

Burning the wood of an infected tree is a safe way to eliminate the fungus,
as is burying the wood. In the first case, the fungus is destroyed, in the
second, there is no vector for the fungus.

Dutch elm disease is spread by the euopean elm bark beetle Scolytus
multistriatus. What you describe is damage caused by the elm leaf beetle
which is messy but not too damaging to the tree since defoliation occurs
late in the season and photosythesis and storage occurs mostly by early
summer. Have a competent arborist check the species of tree. You may
have an asian elm which is not suseptible to DED. If your trees are of a
suseptible variety you may choose to have systemic injections of fugicide
or propholactic spraying.

Dutch elm disease (Ophiostoma ulmi, don’t blame me) is spread
from tree to tree by a very small beetle (scolytus scolytus
5mm. or S.multistriatus 2-3 mm). The larvae live under the bark
and make tunnels in the cambium. The disease is very difficult
to fight. Here in holland the gouvernment ordered that every
infected tree had to be cut down and burned to eradicate the
disease (and kill the beetjes). For a good destruction the
stump also has to be taken out and burned.
A lot of money was spend and lot’s of trees destroyed. It did
probably slow down the spread of the disease, but the costs
were so high that this order was withdrwan a few years ago. Now
all a tree owner can do is sit and wait.
When you want to plant elms be sure to use a variety which is
not very susceptible to DED, and even then, the risk of
infection is quite high.!