The 'Village Green' cultivar of the Japanese Zelkova is a very common medium-sized shade or street tree in the Philadelphia region that is mostly planted in parks, in parkways along streets, in sidewalk wells, on school & college and business park campuses, and at public buildings. It has a definite vase-shape for a long time, but usually will eventually become sort of wide and rounded in habit. It grows about 1.5 to 2 feet/year, even up to 3 feet/year when very young . Easy to transplant from its fibrous root system. Its elm-like leaves develop a good bright orange to rusty red fall colour. It has handsome bark, mostly grey and smooth but with some exfoliating areas and some green & orange & tan colour also. This cultivar was selected by Princeton Nurseries because its growth is a little faster and more vigorous than the mother species, it develops a good straight trunk, it bears good fall colour, and is among the cold hardiest of the species. The small green flowers and drupes (berry-like fruit) are inconspicuous. I have seen some die back on trees from stressful summers, and this member of the Elm Family does get picked on a little by a few elm diseases, though not Dutch Elm Disease. It is a good quality tree.

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