{"id":2681,"date":"2019-05-15T00:03:29","date_gmt":"2019-05-15T07:03:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/pal\/pal-question-468\/"},"modified":"2025-10-16T16:56:46","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T23:56:46","slug":"planting-under-a-sycamore-tree","status":"publish","type":"pal","link":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/pal\/planting-under-a-sycamore-tree\/","title":{"rendered":"planting under a sycamore tree"},"content":{"rendered":"

We have a very large beautiful sycamore in our back yard. My roommate<\/strong>
\nthought it would be nice to build a flower garden around the base of the<\/strong>
\ntree, but something tells me that doing so would be harmful to the tree’s<\/strong>
\nroot system. Is this true? I would love to hear your thoughts.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I think it should be safe to plant
\nshallow-rooted, shade- and drought-tolerant perennials and small bulbs
\nunder your sycamore (I’m assuming you mean Platanus species, and not
\nsycamore maple, which is Acer pseudoplatanus). You just need to be
\ncareful not to pile soil on top of any exposed roots, and try not to
\nscrape or scuff any roots when you are planting. This tree does have
\nspreading roots so they may extend out some distance.
\nMore information about the tree can be found on the pages of the U.S. Forest Service.<\/a><\/p>\n

Some of the plants which may work well in your garden are:<\/p>\n

Brunnera macrophylla<\/a><\/p>\n

Epimedium<\/a><\/p>\n

Galium odoratum<\/a><\/p>\n

Geranium phaeum<\/a><\/p>\n

Lamium<\/a> (but not the invasive Lamium galeobdolon<\/em>)<\/p>\n

Pulmonaria<\/a><\/p>\n

Tiarella<\/a><\/p>\n

Vancouveria hexandra<\/a><\/p>\n

Vinca minor<\/a><\/p>\n

Chionodoxa<\/a><\/p>\n

Narcissus<\/a><\/p>\n

Scilla<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We have a very large beautiful sycamore in our back yard. My roommate thought it would be nice to build a flower garden around the base of the tree, but something tells me that doing so would be harmful to the tree’s root system. Is this true? I would love to hear your thoughts.   I think it should be safe to plant shallow-rooted, shade- and drought-tolerant perennials and small bulbs under your sycamore (I’m assuming you mean Platanus species,…<\/p>\n

Continue reading planting under a sycamore tree<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","keyword":[619,634,115,638,106,112,640,185,639,637,636,635,485],"class_list":["post-2681","pal","type-pal","status-publish","hentry","keyword-brunnera","keyword-chionodoxa","keyword-epimedium","keyword-galium","keyword-geranium","keyword-lamium","keyword-liliaceae","keyword-narcissus","keyword-platanus","keyword-pulmonaria","keyword-tiarella","keyword-vancouveria-hexandra","keyword-vinca"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pal\/2681"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pal"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/pal"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2681"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"keyword","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/keyword?post=2681"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}