Welcome to Bonsai Help - Don't forget to take a look out our members bonsai trees - View or add yours here >> Latest Post from the Bonsai School The friendly community that shares answers to everything bonsai  Join for FREE!  | FAQ | Check my private messages | Log in  Welcome to BonsaiHelp - Want to talk Bonsai? - Join here for FREE! or read the latest topics! sycamore? Goto page 1, 2  Next        Bonsai Help Forum Index -> Talk Bonsai Author Message don Yellow Belt Joined: 14 Jun 2006 Posts: 166 Location: Devon Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2008 2:15 pm    Post subject: sycamore? This arrived unexpectedly today from my daughter who saved it from being thrown on a compost heap hence the odd looking pot (a chopped down milk container). It has a decent amount of roots but the top had been snapped off so i had to prune it. Any help would be appreciated. http://s302.photobucket.com/albums/nn101/daddypea/?action=view&cur rent=sycamore.jpg Back to top steve Black Belt Joined: 10 Sep 2004 Posts: 3250 Location: SW Washington,USA Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2008 2:48 pm    Post subject: Re: sycamore? As it's late in the year for this kind of thing, I would definately keep it moist (it looks a little dry right now.) Keep it out of direct sunlight and give it a low nitrogen fert (should it resume active growth) just before the fall leaf change. Back to top apisto Orange Belt Joined: 29 Jan 2006 Posts: 264 Location: Scotland Zone 7 Brrrrr..... Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2008 3:45 pm    Post subject: Re: sycamore? Yeah good luck with it Don Sycamore take a couple of seasons to catch back up after moving even during the dormant period Back to top delboy Orange Belt Joined: 08 Mar 2008 Posts: 295 Location: nottingham Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2008 4:42 pm    Post subject: nice Nice save. well done to your daughter. Delboy. Back to top yamadorinige Green Belt Joined: 09 Feb 2007 Posts: 754 Location: halesowen/ West Midlands Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2008 7:13 pm    Post subject: Re: sycamore? Are you sure that its sycamore? It may be my eyes are going funny but it looks more like Acer campestre(field maple) Back to top apisto Orange Belt Joined: 29 Jan 2006 Posts: 264 Location: Scotland Zone 7 Brrrrr..... Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2008 11:06 pm    Post subject: Re: sycamore? yamadorinige wrote: Are you sure that its sycamore? It may be my eyes are going funny but it looks more like Acer campestre(field maple) Looks more like a sycamore to me but i only have 2 of them Back to top don Yellow Belt Joined: 14 Jun 2006 Posts: 166 Location: Devon Posted: Sun Jun 29, 2008 8:24 am    Post subject: Re: sycamore? I got one of the leaves and checked it against a tree recognition site and it certainly looks like a sycamore Back to top don Yellow Belt Joined: 14 Jun 2006 Posts: 166 Location: Devon Posted: Sun Jun 29, 2008 6:54 pm    Post subject: Re: sycamore? You know something yama u may just be right, it hasn't got the pointy bits on the leaves like a sycamore has Back to top yamadorinige Green Belt Joined: 09 Feb 2007 Posts: 754 Location: halesowen/ West Midlands Posted: Sun Jun 29, 2008 7:19 pm    Post subject: Re: sycamore? Quote: You know something yama u may just be right, it hasn't got the pointy bits on the leaves like a sycamore has Thats what first made me think it wasn't sycamore. It may just be that the 2 dimensional photo is distorting things, but the leaves don't look big enough for sycamore Back to top apisto Orange Belt Joined: 29 Jan 2006 Posts: 264 Location: Scotland Zone 7 Brrrrr..... Posted: Sun Jun 29, 2008 9:43 pm    Post subject: Re: sycamore? yamadorinige wrote: Quote: You know something yama u may just be right, it hasn't got the pointy bits on the leaves like a sycamore has Thats what first made me think it wasn't sycamore. It may just be that the 2 dimensional photo is distorting things, but the leaves don't look big enough for sycamore http://www.apistos.com/apistos/1/sycamore.JPG That's a picture of one of my sycamores taken a couple of years back. It shows the variance in leaf type on one tree... sometimes younger leaves are more pointed then the round off some times the other way round Back to top splendidplumage Yellow Belt Joined: 15 May 2007 Posts: 129 Location: Nottingham Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 10:59 pm    Post subject: Re: sycamore? I don't know much about sycamore but the leaves certainly don't look like field maple. Is it 3 trees or just 1 planted very deep? Back to top don Yellow Belt Joined: 14 Jun 2006 Posts: 166 Location: Devon Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2008 9:18 am    Post subject: Re: sycamore? Thought you may like to see an update on my Field Maple which is still in its chopped down milk container I chopped it down and it lost all its leaves and became no more than a stick. This is what it looks like now with a few more buds just poking their noses out http://s302.photobucket.com/albums/nn101/daddypea/?action=view&cur rent=fieldmaple.jpg Back to top jeremy_norbury White Belt Joined: 05 Oct 2008 Posts: 47 Location: Amsterdam Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2008 9:05 pm    Post subject: Re: sycamore? don wrote: Thought you may like to see an update on my Field Maple which is still in its chopped down milk container I chopped it down and it lost all its leaves and became no more than a stick. This is what it looks like now with a few more buds just poking their noses out http://s302.photobucket.com/albums/nn101/daddypea/?action=view&cur rent=fieldmaple.jpg It now looks like a Sycamore! The growth habit is not typical of Field Maple. Here's what happens when you chop a field maple back: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3179/2631516029_8b3bd514ca_b.jpg See the difference? Explosive back budding! Sycamore won't do that. You have a Sycamore. And Sycamore, are sadly, bloody awful for bonsai and really not worth the effort. Back to top don Yellow Belt Joined: 14 Jun 2006 Posts: 166 Location: Devon Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2008 2:58 pm    Post subject: Re: sycamore? Every tree is worth the effort Back to top jeremy_norbury White Belt Joined: 05 Oct 2008 Posts: 47 Location: Amsterdam Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2008 10:35 pm    Post subject: Re: sycamore? don wrote: Every tree is worth the effort Not Sycamore - but by all means have a go but it's such a waste. There's are just so many better English tree species which work so much better as bonsai. Well, basically, everything is better Back to top Stymie Black Belt Joined: 18 Aug 2004 Posts: 10911 Location: S.Yorks.UK where the sun used to shine Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2008 10:53 pm    Post subject: Re: sycamore? What? Even Hippocastanum Back to top jeremy_norbury White Belt Joined: 05 Oct 2008 Posts: 47 Location: Amsterdam Posted: Fri Oct 10, 2008 7:24 am    Post subject: Re: sycamore? Stymie wrote: What? Even Hippocastanum Absolutely. They are surprisingly good. The leaves can be reduced much further than you might imagine. Here's one I have in the ground - as reference you can see cotoneaster next to it and korean privet behind it: http://www.flickr.com/photos/norbury/2833413461/sizes/l/in/set-7215760 4239773716/ Horse Chestnut has a number of benefits you might not be aware of: - fast growing - produces leaves throughout the season - Can be leaf stripped multiple times in