Sweetgum or Mulberry?

[Gabler]

I have access to a few hundred sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua) seedlings and saplings. I also have access to a few hundred red mulberry (Morus rubra) seedlings and saplings. Both grow as weeds here, sprouting from any little crevice where a seed can wedge itself. I'd like to collect material for a single-species forest planting this weekend, but I'm not sure which to focus on. I do not know whether I'll have time to go back and collect the other species later. Which would you pick? Even here on the forums, information on both species is relatively scarce, but as tolerant to abuse as they are in the ground, I'd imagine I'll see success in a pot.

 

[penumbra]

Can't vote because I see no reason not to do both.
I do love sweetgums though. As to tolerance, both are great but mulberry are pretty much bullet proof.

 

[Forsoothe!]

Mulberry will reduce nicely and are bulletproof, just in case you are stupid. Often they start out when you find them with leaves as big as your hand and shaped like the state of Michigan. They are hybrids of the American native and the Chinese imports which are mostly weeping. They will make you look like a real artist because the leafs get more twisted and deeply cut as they reduce. I can't speak to the other choice.

 

[Gabler]

As I'm looking into sweetgum, I'm seeing recommendations to re-pot them in May. What that appears to mean is that I have more time to collect later this year even after they leaf out. Can anyone confirm or deny this?

 

[Hartinez]

Yeah I’m in agreement for both. I started a forest of a tree species that is not supposed to make a good single bonsai, but am so far very happy with the group.

Collected Arizona Ash clump/group

I collected this tree around May of last year from the Bosque just south of Albuquerque. I was on a run and came across it and it looked great as is, so I made my way back the following week and dug it up! It had already bug to leaf out and it took a bit for it to push new buds after a heavy...

www.bonsainut.com

 

[HENDO]

Huge leaves but I vote sweetgum for the nice foliage colors. Grab the biggest ones you can get and make a monster forest to compensate for the size of the leaves

 

[HENDO]

Yeah I’m in agreement for both. I started a forest of a tree species that is not supposed to make a good single bonsai, but am so far very happy with the group.

Collected Arizona Ash clump/group

I collected this tree around May of last year from the Bosque just south of Albuquerque. I was on a run and came across it and it looked great as is, so I made my way back the following week and dug it up! It had already bug to leaf out and it took a bit for it to push new buds after a heavy...

www.bonsainut.com

I like this! Kind of reminds me more of a mulberry and makes me want to change my vote

 

[Hartinez]

I like this! Kind of reminds me more of a mulberry and makes me want to change my vote

Thanks. The bark looks very mulberry, but the leaves are undeniably ash. As a group it works well. Can’t wait for another season of growth. Mulberry I think would be great. I’m terribly familiar with sweet gum.

 

[Gabler]

Huge leaves but I vote sweetgum for the nice foliage colors. Grab the biggest ones you can get and make a monster forest to compensate for the size of the leaves

Maybe it's because sycamore and red oak are my point of reference, but I've never thought of sweetgum leaves as big. They're bigger than Japanese maples, but no bigger than red maple or beech. Is it a matter of size reduction? Are they hard to reduce?

Also, regarding color, I took a bunch of cuttings last fall after leaf drop of the brightest yellow and darkest red (almost purple) sweetgum trees I could find. I plan to mix them into a forest a few years down the road.

 

[Maiden69]

If it was for me I would choose the sweetgum because of the fall color. I have a small liquidambar orientalis and the fall color last fall was beautiful. I think a line of sweetgum with some red and orange a.palmatum with some Chinese pistache and Chinese elms in the front would be my go to combination if I had the space in my backyard. Leaves are big, but not huge as sycamore as you noted above. One thing to note is to not place it near foundations as most of the information I have found is that their root system is very strong, and there have been a few cases of foundation cracks because of them.

 

[HorseloverFat]

, just in case you are stupid.

 

[HorseloverFat]

I chose sweetgum because I’m a sucker for that foliage...

Mulberries have been used in plantings, I’ve seen, VERY well, also..

BOTH!

 

[Gustavo Martins]

Both are easy. Both have relatively large leaves which reduce to some extent. Mulberry are bullet proof and produce lots of fruit you can eat. They grow fast. Not so good at healing scars. Liquidambar grows a bit slower but have great autumn colour.

 

[Corrado]

some inspiration

 

[Gabler]

In addition to the sweetgum forest, I did end up snagging a mulberry. I intentionally did everything wrong in terms of my collection process, and it’s leafing out like it was no big deal.

 

[PA_Penjing]

I hate to be this guy but I gotta float it out there. There's a much more probable chance that you have morus alba there, not red mulberry. The chinese white mulberry is highly invasive and will grow strongly anywhere. Where as the native red mulberry is not very common and needs acidic soil and some forest shade. I don't remember that exact differences in the leaves but when I had my mulberry obsession I identified what felt like 100 white mulberries and never came across the native red species. The good news is the the chinese invasive grows with way more vigor and has a great track record as bonsai. I can't remember the instagram account name anymore but I saw some striking mulberry bonsai from china, they were perfect

 

[Corrado]

WOW, love that trunk taper !!!!! Thats going to be gorgeous!!!!

 

[luvinthemountains]

leafing out like it was no big deal

I had a big chunk of mulberry that I air layered last year fall of the bench a couple of weeks ago, just as it was leafing out. Full bare root, and a large amount of roots broken off. I put it back in the pot, chucked the soil back in that had fallen on the ground, and right now it is growing crazy! Lesser trees would have been dead by the time I found this one.

 

[Gabler]

I hate to be this guy but I gotta float it out there. There's a much more probable chance that you have morus alba there, not red mulberry. The chinese white mulberry is highly invasive and will grow strongly anywhere. Where as the native red mulberry is not very common and needs acidic soil and some forest shade. I don't remember that exact differences in the leaves but when I had my mulberry obsession I identified what felt like 100 white mulberries and never came across the native red species. The good news is the the chinese invasive grows with way more vigor and has a great track record as bonsai. I can't remember the instagram account name anymore but I saw some striking mulberry bonsai from china, they were perfect

I’m pretty sure it’s a hybrid. I do all my collection on my parents’ property, and my dad ruthlessly exterminates every white mulberry he can find. The ones that are left are slightly different from the textbook red mulberry, so it appears that they hybridize. Regardless, they taste good.

 

[PA_Penjing]

I’m pretty sure it’s a hybrid. I do all my collection on my parents’ property, and my dad ruthlessly exterminates every white mulberry he can find. The ones that are left are slightly different from the textbook red mulberry, so it appears that they hybridize. Regardless, they taste good.

Ahh well look at me trying to school someone who's done their homework. I need a friend with some land, jealous