Five Year Native Tree Challenge: Gabler's American Sycamore

Underdog

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Old pic from fall 2019. Coffee cup for scale.
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Cmd5235

Chumono
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I’ve started to treat mine like my sweetgum- heavy pruning of the apex of I want to maintain lower branches. I don’t know if they drop branches like sweetgum do when you remove the terminal buds prior to opening, as I haven’t tried it yet (but if someone has, let me know). Mine sit in full sun on my benches, and have leaves no more than 5 inches across without doing any real work. We’ll see. I’m still going for a 5 foot height on my main tree, which has some wonderfully exfoliating bark already.
 

Gabler

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Mine has dropped only branches that aren't getting much direct sunlight. It probably didn't help that I cut back the lower branches more than the apex prior to the growing season, but the lower branches that got full sun grew strong. The shaded branches died. I may need to cut the upper leaves in half to let light reach the lower branches. The tree was very vigorous again this growing season, so I'm thinking I'll chop everything back hard this spring in an attempt to force some back budding to replace the dead branches.
 

MMJNICE

Mame
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so why are you here?
wtf
I like the forms that's why. Look, don't take it personally but I never believe someone 100% that ive never had experience talking with about a particular subject. Especially if I have doubts about what they're saying. You could be 100 % right, and I'll file that little tip away for the future. Since I don't know you or why you felt the need to try to discourage someone from learning I'll just say I guess that's why you are here... 👆 .. you said your view points... why are you still on this thread?? Man I hate wasting my time talking about stuff like this but i hate when people discourage others from learning hands on because if i listened to others i would have never started using Blueberries for bonsai.. mind you this was long before i knew that Blueberries where commonly used for bonsai. I also would have never tried to bonsai a Catalpa tree.... and they have bigger leaves then Sycamore trees but guess what.............. the leaves are easily reduced and that's not from what "giants" told me either. I don't stand on no bodies shoulders but most times I sit quietly sometimes for years learning from people that i know know their stuff..thanks for the information cuz I would be inclined to believe that Sycamore may be untamable but because they grow almost as commonly as Catalpa trees in my city I'm going to learn and practice on my willing subjects.. now does that answer your question.
 

IndianaVX

Seedling
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I have a couple sycamore trees that I have kept under 4 feet for years. The bark is beautiful, leaf reduction is possible, and yes, they are hard to kill no matter what you do to them! I had some serious health issues a couple of years back, so I unpotted mine and put them in my flower beds to help insure they stayed healthy when I couldn't give them care. My grandson, bless his heart helped me by making needed hard cuts, and prunes where I told him. I am pretty well recovered now and can use my arm and leg again! But the trees have gone a bit crazy in my "absence. But I thought I would share. These are not, nor will they EVER be bonsai, but they WILL be, once again, my little fantasy trees! As said above, they will tolerate the hard pruning, branch threading and everything else I have to throw at it here soon, and they will be just fine! (Along with getting them in their pots again!)
 

IndianaVX

Seedling
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My leaves on these are around 3". Once I start on ramification, I'm sure they will reduce even more. I'm sure there are alot of eyes rolling at these pictures, but again, all I could do is point and let the grandson chop! 😆 And they still make me happy..... I did plant 2 of them too close together and lost branches that faced each other, but they will be back in no time!
 

jszg

Mame
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I have never tried sycamore, but I will point out Peter Chan has some striking horsechesnut specimens, which has leaf size and growth habit somewhat similar to the sycamore.
 

Gabler

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The buds are just starting to swell. Now that it’s in a bonsai pot, the growth has slowed a bit, but it’s still several feet taller than I am, even after cutting it back to about three feet last spring. My goal right now is to thicken the leader a bit more while keeping the lower branches alive. It’s proven tough to strike that balance.

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