Re: Sycamore

Rebecca and Kurt,

Thank you for your responses.  I was relieved to get some guidance from
some knowledgeable individuals.  My trees are indeed young, we planted them
about two years ago and they are only about 10 feet tall and thus far have
no anthracnose damage.  Indeed, we do prefer three-trunk multi-trunk trees,
and infact, like Kurt mentioned, I have seen several multi-trunked
sycamores in the canyons of Orange County, just north of San Diego.  They
are enormous -- more than 100 years old, multi-trunked and truely an
awesome sight.  They are on the site of a native plant nursery.

Rebecca, would you mind asking your SO if our young trees will decide for
themselves which branches will become the major trunks or if we shoul
decide for it.  And If your SO has a recommendation for a good arborist in
the SanDiego area, please send it on.

Thank you

Nan

_______________
>Dear Nan,
>
>I just got back in town, so my response to this question is late. That is,
>unfortunately, typical of me.
>I have been voyeuristically reading the list for a month or so. This is a
>great forum!
>
>My SO and I have a great interest in the wonderful native plants of
>California (We live in Sonora, central foothills of the Sierras.) He is
>also a very opinionated arborist, so I forwarded your question to him.  He
>rambled for a great while. I think I can distill some of the major points.
>
>On many species of tree, pruning can actually provide a great service to
>the growing tree IF done with knowledge and care.
>The multi-trunk configuration can be a weak one for some trees. The trunks
>"compete" with each other. If you definitely want to shape it in a
>multitrunk fashion, you should limit your pruning to no more than three
>trunks. More is too many.  The trunks should have good U-shaped crotches,
>radiate away from the center and show the least amount of anthrocnose
>damage (which california sycamores are very prone to).
>The question I would want to ask, however, is why your trees have so many
>trunks. Are they definitely young trees, or is there a chance that you have
>an older root system that died back for some reason (fire, disease, etc.)
>and is suckering?
>
>Rebecca Lance
>Plantaholic
>rlance@sonnet.com

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Nan Sterman
San Diego County California
Sunset zone 24, USDA hardiness zone 10b or 11
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