Plane Tree Platanus acerifolia

The London plane carries a broad, high, evenly domed crown on a straight trunk, and the big lobed leaves overlap into shade dense enough to make a car park usable in February. Bristly seed balls hang on long stalks through winter after the leaves go, which is the easiest way to tell a bare plane from the maples it resembles. It is a large deciduous shade and avenue tree, planted through the older streets of Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide because it survives conditions that kill almost everything else.

Fast growth, hard sites and a wet spring problem

Give it full sun and moderate water and it grows fast. Compacted soil, restricted root runs, reflected heat off bitumen, alkalinity and city air are all within tolerance, and it takes both frost and drawn out summer heat. In hot dry inland gardens it will need a deep soak through summer to hold its leaves in good condition. The failure mode is anthracnose. In a cool wet spring the fungus blackens expanding shoots and young leaves, the tree drops them, and an owner who has just paid for an advanced specimen assumes it is dying and responds with more water and fertiliser, which is exactly wrong. A healthy plane pushes a second flush by early summer and carries on. Rake up and bin the fallen leaves, keep the crown open enough for air to move through, and be patient. The other thing to weigh before planting is the fine hairs shed from new leaves and seed balls in spring, which irritate eyes and airways for some people, so it is a poor choice right beside a school gate or an outdoor dining area.

One advanced tree, or a whole run of them

This line is a single advanced container size, which makes it the one to order when a gap has opened in an established row or a large garden needs immediate scale from day one. If you are planting a long driveway or an avenue and want to match stock across many trees, or start smaller and grow them on, the Platanus x acerifolia listing runs a full ladder of sizes. And if anyone in the household reacts badly to plane hairs each spring, plant Nettle Tree instead, which handles the same hot compacted street conditions on less water and sheds nothing irritating. Both sit in the feature trees range.

Clearance pruning while the branches are bare

Work in late winter when the framework is visible and the tree is dormant. On an advanced tree the job is mostly clearance: lift the lower limbs in stages over several seasons rather than all at once, remove any second leader, and take out crossing wood. Plane responds to hard pruning without sulking, but staged cuts keep the crown balanced. Feed in early spring for the first two or three years while the root system spreads beyond the original rootball, then rely on mulch. Water deeply and less often rather than lightly and daily, which encourages roots to go down instead of running along the surface. Keep the mulch ring wide and clear of the trunk.

Choosing a size

This plant is supplied in one size, 90L, at $539.00 per plant. The size shown is the pot it arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to choosing a tree for a small backyard.