Pears, sycamores

Bermy

Acolyte of the short bar
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Ok, I just pruned a big old pear tree 'Napoleon'...It was about 40' tall and just as wide, thick crowded canopy with lots of crossing and tangled branches deadwood... I took about 20%...it appears in good health, lots of growth up top and long pendulous lower branches, again thick and crowded.
Now the light can get in and the deadwood is gone, summer has only just kicked in, tree is in full leaf...now I'm second guessing, should I have left it till it was dormant?

Next question, how about Sycamore? Its never been pruned, lots of duplicated branches, fair bit of deadwood...healthy

I'm used to being able to prune almost any time of the year, what's the norm for temperate trees?
 
We prune pear year round, they seem to like our hot summers and acidic, sticky clay. Over pruning flowering pear they tend to sucker bad. Fruiting pear are pruned similar to apples.
Sycamore are typically a hearty tree, we avoid pruning in full leaf as the climber get to sneezing and snotting and is so miserable its not worth anything less than stupid money. Dead wood is very brittle, live wood is usually limber but does not hinge well. Can be pruned fairly heavy if need be
 
Bugs?

What's all the sunlight light for?

Old trees - I go < 5-10% Unless bla, bla, bla...

Normally, I'll just tip-reduce heavy limbs.
 
Now the light can get in

I always wonder why (other than helping the grass to grow) people think that's necessary? I leave the canopy as dense as possible to inhibit future watersprout/sucker growth.

You'll never go wrong trimming during the dormant season.
 
It depends on client goals--flowers? fruit? shade?

Fine balance in light to interior--leave it dense and interior branches will die.
 
By sycamore are you referring to London Plane trees? If so I agree with Willie. The dust on them makes cough until I gag. I prefer to prune them late winter shortly after a rain.
 
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The Sycamore is not London Plane Platanus x hispanica...I want to say Acer platanoides, dredging from memory... the 're' learning curve is a bit slow at the moment...flip, two jobs ago I was in the sub tropics!

As for the pear, the client wanted a reduction in height (only a bit was possible), a bit less shade...and deadwooded. There was LOTS of deadwood from the layers of branches growing over and on top of each other.
 
I wish the British would learn their tree names. It is so confusing that they refer to Acer Pseudoplatanus as Sycamore, when it is actually a Maple.

You cannot trim that one near as hard as a sycamore Platanus Acerifolia, but at least it won't make you sneeze
 
Sycamore has been used for so many different trees over the centuries that its pretty much meaningless. The sycamore referred to in the bible was a type of fig. American Sycamore is Plane, UK sycamore is Maple. One of my clients insisted on called them Stickamores, which I found somewhat amusing.

Is sycamore in Denmark Platanoides x hispanica, syn P. acerifolia then Stig?

Acer platanoides is Norway Maple btw.
 
We dont speak English here, gave that up after failing to conquer Britain back when we were vikings.
So we just call is Platan. And it is plain old Acerifolia.
 
So what makes you say the British have got Sycamore wrong? I have a feeling we were calling false planes sycamore before north america was colonised by english speakers.

Plus a Plane is no more a sycamore than a maple is.

Personally I think we should do away with sycamore altogether, far too confusing. Apparently in Scotland they call Acer psuedoplatanus Plane. Lunacy!
 
Platinus racemosa is Sycamore, here - Ghostly white, pendulous, huge, cavitated and convoluted; scary.

Platinus X acerfolia is London Plane, here - Yard tree; cake.
 
Perhaps that is what you call it on the west coast, but in the east coast the Platanus occidentalis is what we call a Sycamore.

The ones here in Florida usually have a lot straighter growth pattern than the ones pictured in my link. Huge leaves that fall off in autumn (unlike most of our trees) and fuzzy seed balls that emit tons of pollen when disturbed.
 
So what makes you say the British have got Sycamore wrong? I have a feeling we were calling false planes sycamore before north america was colonised by english speakers.

.

That is quite easy to answer: I speak American, not English.
So you guys are wrong!

All of life should be that simple:D
 
Confusing, . Arizona is one and California is one and London Plane is one. Which one are you talking about?
Jeff :P
 
Racemosa is easily idendified by the little tiny donut at the petiole that goes up and down. Smaller leaves tho.
Jeff
 
Jeff, you do know that the horned helmets are a hollywood invention, right?
 
Butch I like to keep the canopy opened up, to an extent, to allow air movement through the tree. Less of a sail effect in story weather. I dont do that to all trees though. I dont view trees with a one size fits all mentality. I prune based on the tree as an individual, not what a book says.
 
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