Biochar to mitigate allelopathic residues?

When we bought our place, it had a HUGE and beautiful elm tree at the very edge of the zone 1 area.  It was so beautiful, in fact, that we called it Wonderland.  Just magical.  And then it caught Dutch Elm Disease and it died so very fast, as did another elm nearby.  We took her down and brought away the wood and debris (as much as we could) to another location on the farm to return to soil.  In hindsight, perhaps it would have been better to burn it.  I don't know.

At any rate, we've tried growing fruit trees in the general area, which would have been under what was the elm's canopy.  They all die within that one season.  We've tried apple, cherry, and peach.  And bupkes.   I also had a linden tree that didn't die, but wouldn't grow.   I moved it well out of the range of the former canopy and it's thriving now.  I suspected that elm might be allelopathic and it turns out that they are.  But not as strongly as, say, a walnut.  That tree was enormous and quite old.  All of that leaf duff over the years and shed bark (at the end) seems to have ensured that ain't nothin' growin' there.

I recently saw a YT vid about biochar possibly being used to mitigate such a situation.  My understanding was that it would attract beneficial bacteria (and maybe fungi?) that would neutralize the allelopathic effect.

Has anyone done this with success?  Or maybe you can suggest a better way to make the soil more hospitable to fruit trees in that area?

Thanks all!

While I know nothing about Dutch Elm disease and very little about the allelopathic effects.

I saw your topic in zero replies and thought I might offer some suggestions.

I understand the question was about biochar which I can't answer.

Fungi caught my eye and I would like to encourage you to try doing what you are wanting to do with fungi.

Mushrooms can do so much for the earth and some are tasty.

Anne Miller wrote:While I know nothing about Dutch Elm disease and very little about the allelopathic effects.

I saw your topic in zero replies and thought I might offer some suggestions.

I understand the question was about biochar which I can't answer.

Fungi caught my eye and I would like to encourage you to try doing what you are wanting to do with fungi.

Mushrooms can do so much for the earth and some are tasty.

I don't think it's the DED that makes the detritus allelopathic, but the elm itself naturally repels some plant species.  I would love to know more about mycoremediation.  I really only know of it, but I have no knowledge that is useful... yet.  Can you recommend resources to check out?

All I know is I have read of all the good things that mushrooms can do.

And I feel the answer is yes mushrooms can do that.

I found two threads that might offer an answer to that question:

https://permies.com/t/28581/Fungi-breaking-allelopathic-substances-Siberian

https://permies.com/t/55304/Fungi-allelopathic-plants

Anne Miller wrote:All I know is I have read of all the good things that mushrooms can do.

And I feel the answer is yes mushrooms can do that.

I found two threads that might offer an answer to that question:

https://permies.com/t/28581/Fungi-breaking-allelopathic-substances-Siberian

https://permies.com/t/55304/Fungi-allelopathic-plants

Huzzah!  Thank you!