Sick Sycamore

[Rennie Heuer]

Those of you that have stopped in have seen my large sycamore in the front yard next to the shop. I'm afraid it is not long for this world. It, and its two sister trees in the neighbors yard, all seem to have caught something that will eventually kill them. It started with one tree next door about 2 years ago and has spread first to their second sycamore and, now, to mine. Loss of bark, splitting of the trunk (neighbors) and only half of the branches have leaves and those leaves are half their normal size. By mid-June this should be a major shade generator - not so this year. It will have to come down. Maybe not this year, but come down it must.

There is about 10' or 12' that is relatively clear before the first branch. I really need to look into getting that milled. There's a lot of BF standing there.

 

[larry merlau]

its a cycle they go threw dont get to rambunctious to cut it.. they shed there bark every so often and this year must be its turn.. the dryness will affect its leave growth as well as the bark cycling

 

[Rennie Heuer]

its a cycle they go threw dont get to rambunctious to cut it.. they shed there bark every so often and this year must be its turn.. the dryness will affect its leave growth as well as the bark cycling

Not in the budget this year anyway - so you think next spring may be a different story?

 

[larry merlau]

i very well could be

 

[Chuck Ellis]

Down in Texas in the late '50s my Grandmother had a Sycamore about 2 1/2-3' diameter in her front yard... seems to me it shed it's bark every year... I hated that tree because it dropped the sycamore balls and every time I hit one with the lawn mower nearly flew over the handled.... I mowed her yard with a reel push mower... my little 130 lb butt couldn't push through the balls and bark it dropped in the yard. The roots pushed up the sidewalk and broke it also.
As Larry said, may be just a cycle of the tree.

 

[Rennie Heuer]

Granted, shedding bark is normal for this tree, but it seems to be accelerating. That being said, the absence of foliage and the relative poor showing of the leaves we do have seems to indicate we may have a problem. Time will tell.

 

[Ted Calver]

Bark shedding is common in older trees. Possibly Anthracnose if you are seeing leaves and twigs dying and general defoliation. We see it in our area. It's treatable.