What's Up with "The Umbrella Tree?"

History

The tree you see here, either before your eyes, or on this page, is known as a Camperdown Elm, and it has a fascinating history.

Its origins are rooted in the Camperdown House of Dundee Scotland and a forester named David Taylor. It’s said that in the mid-1800s, Taylor was taking a stroll through the gardens when he came across a twisted elm branch. It was growing outwards instead of upwards. Taylor took a piece and grafted it onto another elm, and suddenly you had a tree with a straight trunk and a beautiful umbrella-like canopy.

This tree in Scarsdale is among the trees cloned from that original ground-hugging elm in Scotland. It was likely planted in the early 1900s, perhaps when the house was built in 1921, or perhaps even earlier. It’s likely one of the oldest Camperdown elms left in the country. You can see other specimens in Newport, Rhode Island and Brooklyn’s Prospect Park. But old ones like this are rare. And this tree was in trouble.

In the 1970s, the tree trunk was almost perfectly vertical. Almost. There was a slight lean. But the tree was balanced. Then, over time, it began to lean. It adapted. By this winter it was clear that it would topple over unless something was done.

What did we do to save it?

Enter Kurato Fujimoto, one of Japan’s leading authorities on traditional tree care. Master Fujimoto has helped protect the cherry trees in Washington, D.C., as well as famous gardens in Japan. In early 2026, Fujimoto and a small team of landscape artists traveled to Scarsdale to look at the tree.

It was the coldest day of winter. It had snowed, and it was so cold the snowpack felt like stone. Fujimoto wandered around the tree and then began to mimic its shape, including the tree’s worsening lean. When he finished, he said, “I understand.”

They would return in March when the weather was warmer to save the tree.

Master Fujimoto has been working closely with Ron Henderson, a nationally recognized landscape architect in Chicago, whose notable works include the Gardens of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston and projects in France and China. He’s the founder of Lirio and a professor at Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago.

A new way of seeing trees

When Master Fujimoto and Professor Henderson arrived, we learned that a big part of their mission teach others traditional techniques – and something deeper: A more empathetic way of understanding the value and beauty of trees.

Master Fujimoto often speaks about the importance of the tree’s canopy, and how it helps feed the rest of the tree. To that end, he and Henderson began crafting a plan to build supports for the tree’s major limbs. Supporting the tree’s canopy like this would re-energize the entire tree.

The technique

He and his arborists, including Aaron and Brendan, fashioned a support for key limbs. In Japanese, the support is called a “hoozue.”

They carefully dug shallow holes, making sure not to damage any roots. They filled the holes with a bit of gravel. Cement is frowned upon. Each hoozue had a cross piece at the top where it meets the branch. Once the support was in place, they used rope and coconut cloth to secure it.

At one point, Master Fujimoto mended a large broken limb by adjusting it until it made a sound like a chiropractor’s crack but much louder. He placed what he called “medicine in the crack” and wrapped rope around the limb in a spool. We weren’t sure if that limb would survive.

The result 

 You can see the progression below.

The tree canopy has never looked more vibrant. New leaves appeared on the limb that Master Fujimoto clicked into place. 

The team saved the Umbrella Tree for decades to come.