Do sycamores make good bonsai?

Hey guys,

I have a sycamore growing just outside my garden, its 4-5 years old now and stands at about 5ft. I know the leaves are abit large for bonsai but id like to use it as a test tree as ive never grown my own bonsai before. Any advice on the best way to "bonsai" the tree would be very much appreciated.

Thanks

In the lost archive of my brain I recall that Kev DID have a sycamore bonsai.

You will ALWAYS be fighting a battle with leaf size, they WILL reduce...but.. why bother... chose a lovely Hawthorn or Beech. They will deliver a far more satisfactory bonsai in a very short time.

This will upset a few but... this is my list of species to avoid (hall of Shame)... I am sure there are more.

Sycamore
Holly
Laurel
Monkey Puzzle
Ash
Horse Chestnut
Poplar

If you have a CREDIBLE bonsai in one of the species... BRING IT ON. Show and tell

Of course, over here when we hear "sycamore" we think of Platanus occidentalis which has lobed, rounded leaves of 10 inches in diameter or (often) more, not a maple, which you folks call Sycamore "over there."

In both events, however, the answer is "No."

JimLewis wrote:Of course, over here when we hear "sycamore" we think of Platanus occidentalis which has lobed, rounded leaves of 10 inches in diameter or (often) more, not a maple, which you folks call Sycamore "over there."

In both events, however, the answer is "No."

Hi Jim, one of the joys/perils of being involved with an 'International' Forum (quite simply the best on the web) is that locally we have 'common names' and local species... MY list is European... sorry rest of the world

Tony said,
This will upset a few but... this is my list of species to avoid (hall of Shame)... I am sure there are more.
Sycamore
Holly
Laurel
Monkey Puzzle
Ash
Horse Chestnut
Poplar
If you have a CREDIBLE bonsai in one of the species... BRING IT ON. Show and tell

I offer Simon Temblett's Holly as shown Newstead 2008.

uro wrote:
I offer Simon Temblett's Holly as shown Newstead 2008.

I hesitated to ask, for about half a second. Is that the holly that Simon ruined by drilling holes all over the trunk in an attempt to make it age and thicken? If so it must have healed very quickly since I saw it last.

I never did have a Sycamore bonsai Tony. I did have a Norway Maple, Acer Platanoides, which is a little similar but much more workable as a bonsai. This one was on the very first incarnation of our club website, so if that is the one you are remembering, there's nothing wrong with your little grey cells. Since then it had a long periond of slow growth in a tiny pot and then lost a major branch so it went back in the ground for about six years and was dug up again last sping. It's currently in a wooden box and will go back in a pot next spring.

I'd take Ash off your list. It isn't that much of a beast, once you know that it survives anything you can throw at it, including repeated defoliation to minimise leaf size, hacking back to a bare trunk, lifting and bare rooting out of season etc. They also callus over huge chp scars remarkably quickly. I'll have to take a picture of some field grown stock I'm developing.

Back to the Sycamore question. If you have nothing else to practise with, go for it. It won't make an attractive bonsai but it is easier to chop down a free tree than buy a £15 maple and chop that. Once you have the confidence to cut off the top three quarters of a tree and watch the new growth sprout from the bare trunk, your confidence will have increased and you can take the next step.

In Southern Africa there is an indigenous Fig, Ficus Sycomorus, with very large leaves, but with the correct training the leaves reduces very well. This is a Ficus Sycomorus grown by Charles Ceronio of South Africa. The leaves have reduced dramatically.

well ive chopped down a few sycamore as ive found theres about 20 million of them growing out back, ill just see how they go. Im not really bothered how they turn out but i figure its good practice for future ventures. Should i cut the first set of leaves back when they grow?

[quote="Jaco Kriek"]In Southern Africa there is an indigenous Fig, Ficus Sycomorus, with very large leaves, but with the correct training the leaves reduces very well. This is a Ficus Sycomorus grown by Charles Ceronio of South Africa. The leaves have reduced dramatically.
..........................................

Now we are talking. I like the looks of the sycomorus.

If you want to practise your technique for acers, wait until the new bud opens slightly and then carefully part the first two leaves, inside there will be a pointy little bud. Nip that out. This is how to shorten the internodes, increase ramification and will help reduce leaf size.......eventually. You may have to completely defoliate sycamores later in the year.