"I would question your choice of cultivars for a forest. 'Corticosa'
would be my last choice. It has to be quite large to obtain the highly
desirable furrowed bark, and by then it would be too large for most
forests. In it's smaller, younger stage, it is quite ungainly and
subject to reverse taper and awkward joint branching. You would be
better off using one of the smaller cultivars such as 'Catlin',
'Seiju',
or 'Yatsubusa'."
This is a quote from my email with my correspondent, which, well, is suggesting otherwise, to avoid the corticosa and go with the catlin. I am DEFINATELY NOT starting a "he said she said" kinda thing, as my correspondent is actually Brent from Evergreen Gardenworks, and seems to be highly regarded, which is why I was going to go with what he says, except that I had seen other people's work when they used the corticosa, and it seemed kinda nice. Which is NOT to say that your opinion is not important to me....seems like you know what you're talking about, too!
But then, I realized that there were so many other species (or subspecies) of elm, that is why I was questioning which one....still kinda unsure which one (catlin or corticosa) I will use
The good thing, is that since I am such a beginner, that I will probably be pleased with either one, since I am not familiar with either one. But I can't lie, I was hoping that I would have a ton of people chime in and say "Oh yeah, DEFINATELY use THIS ONE (plant X) instead of THAT ONE (plant y)"
But thanks again for the post...still mulling....