Sycamore
- To: m*@ucdavis.edu
- Subject: Sycamore
- From: r*@sonnet.com (Rebecca Lance)
- Date: Mon, 31 May 1999 20:36:05 -0800
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
