This Event has Passed
Historic Preservation through Horticulture: Sweetgum Planting - Morton Park
In September of 2024, one of Newport's Heritage Trees, a venerable American sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua) was lost during a weather event. The tree, which stood during the Olmsted firm's survey of the land in route to designing Morton Park, was estimated to be over 150 years old. In 2021, the Newport Tree Conservancy's horticulture team grafted this historic specimen, creating identical genetic copies or clones of this immense sweetgum. Seven trees are now over 6 feet tall in our nursery, with one fine tree selected to be planted as the in-kind replacement, thus preserving this historical landscape feature in perpetuity.
This is a free event. Everyone is welcome to attend this inaugural planting occasion.
