Re(2): Sycamore shape
- To: c*@fix.net
- Subject: Re(2): Sycamore shape
- From: B*@monterey.edu (Barry Garcia)
- Date: Sun, 30 May 1999 16:24:13 -0700
cdills@fix.net writes:
>While I don't believe in self-shaping for a tree in a cultivated
>environment, I also do not believe in massive pruning later in the tree's
>life. If you have to do massive late pruning, you have the wrong tree in
>the wrong place, in other words, a weed. But almost all trees can do with
>a
>little guidance while young, just like your children.
I think that in a cultivated environment, shaping a tree helps it along.
Some trees if not trained can become big bushes (Such as Aesculus
californica). So, i believe in shaping trees while young.
>
> Just down the street someone pollarded a Fruitless Mulberry. It is
>of course coming back but the real problem is that it is too big a tree
>for
>a small lawn and never should have been planted in the first place.
OUr neighbors did that with their maple. I'm not sure what kind it is (I'm
thinking it might be a silver maple, not sure) but its obviously too big
for their small yard. They prettymuch pollarded it when it got to 20 feet
and not is a thick trunk with a brush of long almost twigless branches.
>
> A sycamore is a large tree. You must have a half acre at least to
>even plant one (in my opinion!). I like them as massive single trunk
>trees.
>They get a trunk that can be several feet in diameter. It doesn't seem to
>me that a multi-trunked one is practical. Are you sure you have the right
>tree for your purpose?
I was thinking that too. I have seen the native sycamore in Big Sur, and
the trunks are at least 6 - 7 feet wide, and the trees are around 50 feet
tall. They are huge trees. Also, the ones in Big Sur all seem to have
their leader branches snapped off.
>
> It is my opinion that you must care what a tree will look like in
>fifty or a hundred years even if you don't plan to be here!! I've seem
>redwoods planted within ten feet of a building
>!
Exactly. It's amazing that people will buy trees that get large, plant it
next to their house as if it were a shrub, and then wonder why its ripping
up their foundation in 30 years.
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"Bailando en el fuego con un gran deseo" - India
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