Sycamores are HOT : Popular tree of striking individuality brings a rugged, wild look to most civilized of gardens
While we may worry about the vanishing redwood forests and California oaks that are not regenerating, at least one native tree is not endangered in any way.
In fact, the California sycamore, Platanus racemosa , is at the top of the tree charts--the No. 1 favorite of landscape professionals, designers and architects in particular. It is in such demand that people are willing to spend thousands to move elegant, full-sized trees onto their property.
The California sycamore (there are other kinds, native to other places) grows mostly in moist canyon bottoms, or on the valley floors. To see them at their best--white trunks glowing against dark canyon walls--take a hike up Big Sycamore Canyon in Point Mugu State Park.
Not many people are fortunate enough to live where they naturally grow, but long ago someone discovered that sycamores are excellent garden trees, if somewhat large.
For an instant canyon look, full-sized trees costing several thousand dollars each are available. But anyone can go out and buy a sycamore for under $15, though they may have to wait a few years for that rustic canyon look.
It could, however, be one of their better investments. According to Anne-Christine Von Wetter of Fred Sands Realty in Malibu Beach, houses with mature sycamores in the garden are worth 10% to 25% more than neighboring houses.
“You may have to wait 25 years for it to appear, but no other tree has such personality,” said landscape architect Bill Evans. “It is without equal.”
And Evans knows his trees. He is a tree fanatic and the landscape architect for Disneyland and the other Disney theme parks around the world. He also grew up in a canyon filled with native sycamores where “there wasn’t a straight trunk in sight.”
This twisty, sometimes crawling habit, where the trunk may even grow parallel to the ground, gives the sycamore a rugged and wild look, even in the most civilized of gardens. It also sets it apart from other kinds of sycamores, such as the London plane tree, which tend to have stiff, upright trunks.
Evans is not the first notable designer and plantsman to admire the sycamore. Ralph D. Cornell, who did projects as grand and varied as the Nile Hilton Hotel in Cairo and the tree-studded UCLA campus, devoted a chapter in his book, “Conspicuous California Plants” (1938 edition reprinted in 1978 by The Plantin Press, Los Angeles), to Platanus racemosa .
“Always a rugged tree of striking individuality in its form and branching structure, this sycamore is an arresting accent in the landscape,” he said. “The qualities that probably give it such distinction in a western landscape already replete with striking effects are a combination of its rugged and picturesque branching habit, its large richly colored leaves and the almost white bark that is freshly renewed each spring.”
That white-barked trunk is reason enough to grow one. In a recent design for a large garden in Brentwood, landscape architect Robert M. Fletcher brought in three full-grown sycamores and several smaller ones. They made an instant sycamore grove at the end of a wide strip of grass edged on either side by gray-leaved olives and lavenders. There the trunks catch the afternoon sun, glowing white and then orange as the sun sets, a stunning effect.
Valley Crest Tree Co. dug these particular trees from small gardens in Agoura and Sherman Oaks, where they had outgrown their spaces. This is the downside: sycamores get big, from 40 to 60 feet tall, and their branches spread almost as wide. They should be carefully sited in the garden if they are not to become a problem.
“You want to give it some real thought,” said landscape architect L. K. Smith of Thousand Oaks, another sycamore fan. But one tree in even a small front or back yard can make the scene. Evans noted that they are easy to garden under. Most of the roots are deep and the shade is not too dense. Not everyone agrees with this assessment, but there are many, many beautiful gardens under sycamores.
Smith recently sited a sycamore in such a fashion. It dominates the front garden of a Westside home, its clean white trunk grand against the facade of the two-story house. He gave it plenty of room in all directions and the garden underneath is drought resistant, though the plants will have to be changed as the tree grows and casts a larger shadow.
He used a sycamore in a 48-inch nursery box. This is one way to get personality without undue expense. A boxed specimen already has some of its rugged look and, compared to a brick walkway or a small retaining wall, boxed specimens are not that expensive. A 48-inch boxed tree is already 16-20 feet tall with a 4-5-inch trunk and costs about $700, according to John Boething at Boething’s Treeland Nursery in Woodland Hills. Smaller specimens in 24-inch boxes cost about $250, young trees in 15-gallon cans that are taller than their purchaser cost about $60 and trees in five-gallon cans around $11.
One way to make even very young trees more interesting, according to Bud Arntzen at Boething’s, is to plant them at an angle, so they are not vertical. This gets them off to a picturesque start. Although people normally look for a nice straight trunk on a tree, he suggests that with sycamores you should look for character.
The 15-gallon size is perhaps a best buy. Look for what nurseries call a “multi,” which refers to the tree having multiple trunks. This gives the tree more character, and most trees in the wild have several trunks. A 15-gallon tree will fit in the trunk of your car but you’ll need to tie a red flag to it and drive slowly home.
Another trick is to plant two in the same hole with one at angle. But no matter what you start with, your tree will eventually develop it’s own character. “The tree will reshape itself,” John Boething said, “and you never know which way it is going to grow. It’s real unpredictable, but that’s what makes it such a great tree.”
Boething said sycamores are “kinda drought resistant” and that they can survive from rain to rain once established in the garden. But, “we used to value them because they could grow in a lawn,” so sycamores can also stand garden watering. What they don’t like are hillsides. These are valley bottom trees that prefer flat land and deep soil, where they can send their roots down in search of moisture. In other words, here is the perfect tree for those living on level lots, or with heavy clay soils.
Sycamores are subject to a disease called anthracnose, which may cause the leaves to shrivel, blacken and fall off, sometimes soon after they leaf out. But the trees recover quickly and leaf out all over again for a fresh start. There is no point in spraying. Landscape architect Smith cautioned that sycamores drop a lot of leaves but the leaves are big and easy to rake up and they make a good mulch. “And they don’t drop them 12 months of the year, like some trees,” he said.
The trees lose their leaves late in the year, coloring canyons and gardens an earthy gold in November and December and they usually leaf out again in February or early March, providing shade by April to ward off any early hot spells. This makes them a good choice for the south side of a house where they can shade a roof and keep the home cool. Sycamores can stand a lot of heat and wind.
They even have their own fragrance, which natives will instantly recognize as being one of those smells that signal a hot day ahead.
They produce long stems with flowers and then seed capsules on either side (called “racemes,” the reason this sycamore is P. racemosa ). Unlike a liquidambar, the spines are not sharp. They tend to hang onto the tree through winter, adding yet another decorative element.
The California sycamore has its drawbacks, but Boething--whose nursery specializes in trees of all kinds--still gives it high marks: “It is dramatic like no other tree,” and 30 years ago he put his money where his mouth is by planting sycamores in the nursery parking lot. Today they look like they’ve always been there.
