London Plane

Following the sentencing of the two men who cut down the Sycamore Gap Tree to 4 years 3 months in jail, there has been a lot of talk about venerated trees in the UK.  St John's Garden has 4 London Plane trees that were planted, probably in 1874, by Fanny Wilkinson, the "Suffragist Gardener".  By the late 19th century nearly half the trees in London were London Planes.  They could survive the dreadful pollution at the time and provided wonderful shade and shelter.  London has a much wider variety of trees today, but the London Plane is still London's Pride.

Our trees are currently shedding their bark (middle image).  The trees shed pollutants and pests with the bark, which keeps them healthy.  This gives their trunks their distinctive mottled appearance (right hand image).

The London Plane itself is a hybrid between the American Sycamore and the Oriental Plane.  The oldest known London Plane in the UK was a gift from King Charles II to the Bishop of Ely in 1674 and is still growing well in Ely.  13 of the 61 "Great Trees of London" are London Planes.  They typically grow to 40m, which is approximately the height of ours (compared with a 5 story office block in the left hand image).

Our 4 London Planes are magnificent and they keep the garden shady and cool.  They also absorb a lot of water, which is partly why we have to water the smaller plants so much.  However, I am sure their roots go down into the water table, especially as the River Fleet used to flow a couple of hundred yards away.