After felling sycamore - when is the pasture safe?

[WrongLeg]

If I fell the sycamore trees, when will the grazing be safe?
I had my seedlings tested by the Royal Veterinary College - 448 μg/g?- (they are more than 4 x highly toxic, 100 μg/g is highly toxic, 50 μg/g moderate), with advice to remove horses immediately, and remove all plant material and burn it.
I am planning to fell the trees: if last year's seeds germinate into seedlings next spring (2024) or (2025), will they be toxic? can I graze the paddock?
There are three sycamore trees: the paddock was carpeted in seedlings but they are dying back and rotting away. It's restricted gazing. 1 1/2 acres (split into 2). I currently have no turnout - I am therefore deciding whether to sell the pony.

 

[maya2008]

Lots of people mow them successfully (with a mower that collects the clippings then wait for the stems to die back), and you can pull them by hand. Pull an area big enough to start with, then keep pulling as you move the fence out. Better than no grazing.

 

[WrongLeg]

I’ve got tussocks city: I had the paddock rolled and the tussocks popped back-up too high for the mower.
Really struggled with strip grazing - she ignores 3000 volts, snorts at the 90cm posts with mains 7000 volts and then jumps it clear. I think she tests the fence with grass in her mouth!
Going to try the 156cm (they are waiting at a friend’s house, couldn’t get them delivered to Highland)- but not sure I trust her to not knock down the temporary posts.

 

[PurBee]

I’ve got tussocks city: I had the paddock rolled and the tussocks popped back-up too high for the mower.
Really struggled with strip grazing - she ignores 3000 volts, snorts at the 90cm posts with mains 7000 volts and then jumps it clear. I think she tests the fence with grass in her mouth!
Going to try the 156cm (they are waiting at a friend’s house, couldn’t get them delivered to Highland)- but not sure I trust her to not knock down the temporary posts.

Sorry to read about your sycamore woes - theyve really been the horse owners nemesis this spring.
Any seedlings which sprout may or may not be toxic levels. They could even vary. Sycamores are known to have varying levels of toxicity - even one study said seeds from 1 branch differed to seeds from another branch in toxic levels.

Youre doing the right thing by just removing the trees. If youre getting it done this year before seed formation on the branches, and if theres no seeds from last year lingering, you dont need to burn the tree top. Just remove the cut branches from the grazing area, rake any leaf drop and remove, pile them up and cover them and theyll rot down.
But if the branches are still loaded with seeds, its best to burn them.

I have 156cm with 7kV power, as i have 1 horse who’s brave and tries his houdini tricks but that height and power he doesnt even try. 3kV even at 156cm, he would possibly attempt as he’s not put off by a weak buzz. But 6kv and above, put him off. He doesnt jump but 5 foot is a big ask even for a jumper. You can get ‘low ohm’ tape and rope - tape cheaper than rope, and that stuff really delivers a good off-putting zap, as the conductivity is superior to most average tapes/rope wires.

If you could hire/buy a self-propelled petrol mower with collector box - youd be able to mow sections for your pony to safely graze, and get the seedlings off the pasture. I bought one last year as i have a tractor with flail mower but needed a collector mower. I bought a ride-on collector but it needs some work, so hand mower was my last option and i did 1 acre in 2 days. The mower survived!
i got a great deal off ebay about 180 quid….its a great hand mower and enabled me to shift my horses about because it cuts and collects the ‘toxic’ plants.

 

[maya2008]

We have had endless fails with standard electric fencing, but the Fieldguard stuff has been amazing. Taller posts, wider tape, bigger zap.

 

[Tiddlypom]

Our ride on mower with collection box was lame with a puncture, so I ran over the circa 1 acre equicentral track recently with our self propelled garden lawn mower. It was mainly to cut the grass down, but as a bonus this zapped the last of this spring's sycamore seedlings.

Good for the daily step count, too! You must collect and dispose of the clippings, though.

 

[PurBee]

Our ride on mower with collection box was lame with a puncture, so I ran over the circa 1 acre equicentral track recently with our self propelled garden lawn mower. It was mainly to cut the grass down, but as a bonus this zapped the last of this spring's sycamore seedlings.

Good for the daily step count, too! You must collect and dispose of the clippings, though.

View attachment 114705

Im so glad for the smaller self propelled mower - saves having to run the bigger tractor, and i can just nip into awkward places thats difficult for tractor cutter to get to. Theyre so useful for cutting and sucking-up patches of dodgy plants, for complete removal.

Like yours, either honda or a briggs engine small hand mower are still a reliably made engine and great workhorse - so handy to have with owning horses, and its surprising how quickly an acre can be mowed by hand

 

[WrongLeg]

Thank you, This is super helpful advice, I’ll try a hand mower.
Fieldguard tape, is that the wide stuff? does it catch the wind?
The tape catches the wind here (Highlands): I use the high conductivity rope with temporary posts.
She’s a 14hh Highland: the grass doesn’t even have to be greener on the other side for her to jump 90cm - it’s just for fun.

 

[WrongLeg]

We have had endless fails with standard electric fencing, but the Fieldguard stuff has been amazing. Taller posts, wider tape, bigger zap.

Thank you:

Is this true?

Glass fibre fence stakes will bend in high wind but won’t come out of the ground, no matter how soft the subsoil.

 

[Sir barnaby]

Our summer paddocks were covered with seedlings so spent quite a few hours hand picking them out (tried topping as advised bur topper wasn't removing them) collected bucket fulls and they were then burnt. As soon as cleaned most of paddock, managed to turn out horses with electric fencing and as I strip grazed I made sure each strip was clean of saplings. LO has agreed to get the offending tree chopped down but they are still plenty trees on the border of fields so can’t possibly chop them all down, so I am still removing saplings from the hay field it’s a thankless task but at least horses are safe. Horses have been in said paddock for several years and never had this problem before. Hopefully it’s a one off occurrence.

 

[WrongLeg]

Our summer paddocks were covered with seedlings so spent quite a few hours hand picking them out (tried topping as advised bur topper wasn't removing them) collected bucket fulls and they were then burnt. As soon as cleaned most of paddock, managed to turn out horses with electric fencing and as I strip grazed I made sure each strip was clean of saplings. LO has agreed to get the offending tree chopped down but they are still plenty trees on the border of fields so can’t possibly chop them all down, so I am still removing saplings from the hay field it’s a thankless task but at least horses are safe. Horses have been in said paddock for several years and never had this problem before. Hopefully it’s a one off occurrence.

Like you, it’s so strange, I’ve had 4 ponies grazing that pasture over 10 years with no problems. It was the farrier who alerted me to the sycamore.

I never expected the seeds to be so toxic.

The ponies who previously grazed were pretty show pony/ thoroughbred cross types: Highlands gobble absolutely everything.
I simply don’t remember having this many seeds.

 

[Marnie]

I have one small paddock that is affected and I hand pulled a load of seedlings but didn't seem to be making a dent in them. I then mowed them and collected all the clippings and that seems to have got rid of them - I walked the paddock for a week after mowing to check for any more but it seems to have worked.

 

[eggs]

We have 1 sycamore tree in the hedge line of my winter field. I have been going out every lunchtime and hand picking a small bucket of saplings. I have now filled a HiFi bag with them - took about two - three weeks. I go out every couple of days and pick a handful of either ones I missed, ones that have grown since I did it or who have regrown when the root broke when I was pulling them. It takes a while but it is doable.

 

[JackWilliam]

Sorry to hear about the trouble you've been facing with sycamore trees affecting your horses this spring. It has been a common problem for many horse owners.

When it comes to the seedlings that may sprout from the sycamore trees, it's uncertain whether they will have toxic levels or not. The toxicity levels can vary, and even different branches from the same tree can have different levels of toxicity, as shown in some studies.

You're taking the right approach by removing the trees. If you're able to have them cut down this year before they produce seeds on the branches, and if there are no lingering seeds from last year, you won't necessarily need to burn the tree tops.

 

[maya2008]

Thank you:

Is this true?

Glass fibre fence stakes will bend in high wind but won’t come out of the ground, no matter how soft the subsoil.

We have never had any come out, and they are quite hard to pull out if you want to move them. Doable but not easy like the plastic ones. More of them goes in the ground. The clips are properly sturdy too, and tensioned on the ends, so we’ve not had any come loose/down in the wind. The tape is woven, so the wind can in theory go through a bit. All I know is we’ve had it up for 3 years as perimeter fencing and hacked past people who also have it - never an issue, even in high winds.

 

[WrongLeg]

We have never had any come out, and they are quite hard to pull out if you want to move them. Doable but not easy like the plastic ones. More of them goes in the ground. The clips are properly sturdy too, and tensioned on the ends, so we’ve not had any come loose/down in the wind. The tape is woven, so the wind can in theory go through a bit. All I know is we’ve had it up for 3 years as perimeter fencing and hacked past people who also have it - never an issue, even in high winds.

Thank you, that’s super helpful. Do you have normal wooden posts as the corner posts? or wide strainer posts?