Five Year Native Tree Challenge: Gabler's American Sycamore

[Gabler]

I know the leaves get huge, but I love Platanus occidentalis trees, and they grow like weeds, so I'm hoping to get some fast development if poorer refinement. If nothing else, I figure a native tree challenge is a good excuse to try out some unusual species. I'll try working with one of these three trees, depending on which is the largest I can manage to dig up. Size will be important to help keep the leaves more in proportion.

 

[LittleDingus]

When we drive to see the grandkids in the winter I always look for these along the route. I love how the white upper trunk and branches stands out amongst the other trees in the winter

 

[Cmd5235]

I collected a big sycamore early in 2020. Km waiting to see how it overwinter, but I figured why not. I can’t wait to see how you do with yours!

 

[Gabler]

If you post any pictures on this site, I'd love to see how your tree progresses.

 

[Cmd5235]

I haven’t started a thread yet, just given the general feelings towards sycamores, but I’ll put up pictures of the big one and the small one I’m working on:

This is the bigger one, overall height will be about 5/6 feet for scale


this is the smaller one. Originally I thought it was a maple variety and collected it for the bark on the trunk (hence the low chop), but I realized quickly it was a Sycamore:

 

[Cmd5235]

I’m assuming it’s too late to enter the challenge at this point, or I would have before

 

[leatherback]

Just don't blink while you wait to dig it up. It will double in size when you do!

 

[Gabler]

Just don't blink while you wait to dig it up. It will double in size when you do!

They really do grow absurdly fast, somehow even in poor soil. They can also take a brutal beating and bounce right back. The leaf size truly is the only drawback to the species that I've yet to encounter, and leaves can be reduced.

 

[leatherback]

We have one in our garden. It grows about 10 feet per year, in all directions. And every fall I trim it back to ~ 18ft tall.

leaf size

Ours get leaves a foot diameter..

 

[Gabler]

We have one in our garden. It grows about 10 feet per year, in all directions. And every fall I trim it back to ~ 18ft tall.

Ours get leaves a foot diameter...

There's a lot of variation in leaf size. Anywhere from 4 to 13 inches.

 

[Gabler]

I managed to collect the big one. I dug around the radial roots with a regular old shovel, and pulled out the tap roots with a chain, a hook, and the pneumatic arms of a tractor bucket. I chopped the tree a little bit higher than I ultimately want in case there's some dieback. As soon as I get some new growth, I'll chop it back farther to that new growth and train a new leader. As quickly as sycamore trees grow, I should be able to develop taper in four years and promote just a little bit of ramification in year five. Like other trees I collect, I added mycelium from under nearby oaks and pines to the soil mix. Additionally, there were plentiful fine feeder roots very close to the trunk; a few were only four to six inches long growing directly from the root collar. I also used a fifty-gallon grow bag for this tree, so I had room to leave a larger root ball and grow the new leader more quickly.

 

[Gabler]

 

[Gabler]

Getting bushy.

 

[Gabler]

I went from about a foot and a half to about seven feet this summer. Still growing, even this late in August.

 

[LittleDingus]

Lol...the problem with sycamore is not getting them to grow...it's getting them to stop!

Looking healthy!

 

[canoeguide]

I went from about a foot and a half to about seven feet this summer. Still growing, even this late in August.

View attachment 393900

View attachment 393901

Grab that tulip poplar that's sprouted in the bag next spring and see what you can make of it too

 

[Gabler]

Grab that tulip poplar that's sprouted in the bag next spring and see what you can make of it too

I put it there earlier this summer when I didn’t have a pot on hand. I figure if nothing else, it’ll make a nice yard tree. I love the orange and green flowers.

 

[Kanorin]

Definitely interested to see if you can get the leaves to reduce any. The bark on these (or maybe the lack of bark?) when they get older is just gorgeous.

 

[Forsoothe!]

@Gabler it seems that all of your tree are species which are unbonsai. Are you doing this on a bet, or is God speaking to you, or is there some personal agenda that you are following? All big leaves, long internodes, uneconomical in all aspects. Why are you doing this?

 

[Cmd5235]

That’s a hefty tree. @Forsoothe! is right, but I have to admit that I also have a sycamore. Granted, it’s 6 feet tall, but I don’t think it will ever reduce. I’m growing it more for the winter silhouette, where I am hoping to get movement into the long internodes to give the visual effect of a denser ramification level than I could hope to achieve