Seedlings become established under a wide variety of conditions. Slippery elm sprouts readily from the stump or root crown. Seedlings produces sprouts from rhizomes. Slippery elm also reproduces by layering. Slippery elm grows best on moist, rich soils of lower slopes, streambanks, river terraces, and bottomlands but is also found on much drier sites, particularly those of limestone origin.
Reproduction is erratic under fully stocked stands.
In a river terrace forest in east-central Illinois, slippery elm was present in most size classes, but no seedlings were present. A nearby upland coppice, however, contained numerous slippery elm seedlings. The flowers open before the leaves, from February to May, depending on weather and location. Fire rarely occurs in the moist areas where slippery elm typically grows. When fire does occur and conditions are dry, slippery elm decreases.