The Woodlands English Elm Wood Auction
"Last of Its Kind" Raw Edge English Elm Wood
The last remaining English Elm grove in the country lived at The Woodlands and succumbed to Dutch Elm Disease in 2017. The trees were milled, and these incredibly rare raw edge slabs have been carefully drying ever since. The wood is now ready to be used in restoration projects at The Woodlands, and in your own home. As a way for the Elms to continue to inspire as they did while standing in the shadow of the Hamilton Mansion for over 200 years, we are auctioning off live edge, raw slabs in a variety of sizes to be used for woodworking projects, furniture, and more. Funds raised through the sale of this wood will go towards ongoing maintenance of The Woodlands historic landscape and buildings.
Project-ready live edge raw slabs ranging from 8ft to 10ft long with a variety of widths are available for bidding or immediate purchase online starting April 1st at 9AM through April 16th at 8PM.
History of the Elm Wood at The Woodlands
The historic Grove of 7 Giants at The Woodlands was a well-known grove of mature English Elm trees. Until 2014, they were the only remaining grove of English Elms in the county which had withstood the threat of Dutch Elm disease, making these trees incredibly rare. After many attempts to treat the Elms, eventually, the trees died and had to (mostly) be cut down. The community gathered together in March of 2017 to bid the 7 Giants farewell. People from all over Philadelphia who loved the Grove of 7 Giants came together to reflect on this momentous occasion:
"It's a rare thing to see a group of such large, commanding, amazingly impressive English Elms, I've never seen anything like it anywhere else." - Ned Barnard, author of books on Philadelphia and New York City trees.
"No one really knows why these trees survived for so long. When every other big elm in the Philadelphia area, baring maybe a few, maybe 1% have survived, they all died in the 50s and 60s and early 70s." - Joel Fry, curator at Bartram's Garden.
