Plane trees in London - introduction

Plane trees are among the most numerous large street and park trees planted in Greater London. Thee frequency of their occurence within the city has given rise to the common name of 'London plane', by which the common hybrid planes are now known in English.

History

The first plane trees known to have been planted in Britain were Oriental planes, planted from about 1550. These have been cultivated and known in their native range (southeast Europe and Western Asia) for millenia. Most trees seen in London however belong to the group that is often described as the London Plane, a group of hybrids probably derived from crosses between P. orientalis and P. occidentalis. This cross is thought to have occurred in about 1650 in the south of Europe. The first of these trees planted in England were planted from about 1680.

However, few if any trees exist in London that are as old as this. Most were planted when new parks, squares and streets were developed and constructed during and after the industrial revolution. Apart from a few historic estates, most trees seen now are from plantings of the 19th century and later. For suburban London plantings are often from periods in the 20th century.

The oldest London planes in London are known to go back as far as the later 18th century. They include some trees at Kew Gardens, which may go as far back as the 1770s (Bean). The huge tree by the Sutton Ecology Centre at Carshalton probably is from the late 18th century. Among the known oldest Oriental planes is one at Osterley Park, dated to 1759.

Tree plantings

Most plane trees in London today are forms of the hybrid London plane. These are present in numerous parks, and also as roadside trees. This is especially so for those parks and streets developed during the periods of high industrial pollution, in the later 19th and earlier 20th century. Plane trees have proved particularly resistant to pollution.

There are many plantings in parks, sometimes as single specimens. However a common use was as avenue and boundary trees. Some of the largest and best such avenues can be seen now in the central London Royal Parks, in particular the eastern boundary of Hyde Park (alongside Park Lane), and along the south carriage drive in Kensington Gardens (between Princes Gate and the Albert memorial). Other similar plantings in other parks have generally not reached the impressive size of the preceding examples, but examples can be found throughout London.

Plane trees have been widely planted as street trees. While numbers vary between inner and outer London, it may be that about a tenth of all street trees in Greater London are planes. Unfortunately, the tree grows too large for most roads, hence the trees get pruned heavily to the typical 'lollipop' shapes that residents will be familiar with (pollarded trees). In some instances, a more sympathetic (and more expensive) pruning is carried out, that leaves the tree looking more natural. The use of plane trees in roads is now being gradually reduced in favour of smaller trees.

They have also been planted in other public and communal areas. Central London's squares are dominated by them. They are also fairly common in housing estates, schools, and other institutional grounds. In some areas, and especially in inner London, a few trees can be found in private gardens.

Large trees

Most varieties of plane trees form large trees. The different varieties probably differ somewhat in ultimate size. As most of the hybrid trees have probably not reached old age yet, the ultimate sizes are not yet known. Mitchell suggests that as planes around 300 years old are still in full vigour, plane trees are likely to grow to be the biggest trees in southern Britain in the future.

The image on the left is that of the Great Plane at Mottisfont Abbey in Hampshire, the largest plane tree in Britain.

Growth rates of younger roadside trees in London can be relatively low, such as about 2-3.5cm of girth per year, as these trees often grow under difficult conditions. Given reasonable soils and conditions much faster growth is possible; 5cm per year should be seen as normal.

Many of the largest specimens are in central London, in the Royal Parks and in some of the old city squares. Among the other large ones are the tree near the Ecology Centre at Carshalton, some trees in Ravensbury Park (Morden), and several in Kew Gardens. Heights of some of these exceed 40 meters, and they form the largest trees in the capital.

Some of the largest trees owe their great size not just to their age, but because of their good growing situtations. The majority of the large specimens are near water, their preferred habitat.

Return to index page

3-Feb-2007