Saplings

[spotty_pony]

The dreaded S word.

One corner of one my field has lots and is currently fenced off. I have pulled a lot of the blighters out by hand and we tried mowing but they are still there ? just wondering if I leave them, will they die and then I can rake them up? Or will they continue to grow?

 

[Spottyappy]

Sycamore?

I think some weed killers do work, but not sure which ones.
if you leave, imho, they won’t just die off, unfortunately.

 

[Lois Lame]

'Saplings' refer to bigger young trees. I think you mean seedlings. You wouldn't be able to pull saplings out by hand.

 

[PurBee]

Longterm, I’d take the tree out and plant animal friendly trees in its place.

If a large part of field has seedlings everywhere the only ‘instant’ solution is scalp it low with a flail mower, allow 2 weeks
for it to rot down, flails will mulch the cut really fine so it rots fast. Only do this when theyve all germinated otherwise you’ll find them continuing to germinate this time of year, and need to be cutting regularly.

Or weedkiller, but thatll take time to kill them, and for them to rot right down.

Not use the area, wait for seedlings to become larger and pull them all. Ok to do this if you have other grazing areas to use.

Sycamore is annoying - ive had various hays/haylages with autumn blown sycamore leaf tips with seeds attached get raked up in the following years forage yield. They blow quite far from the parent tree too. I know the seeds are pretty high toxicity, but unsure about the young seedlings.

 

[Keith_Beef]

I'm sure this subject has come up before.


Sycamore seeds and seedlings contain Hypoglycin-A that causes atypical myopathy in horses.

I've not read that other Acer species are a problem... OP might not need to worry too much, of these turn out to be field maple.

 

[meleeka]

I'm sure this subject has come up before.


Sycamore seeds and seedlings contain Hypoglycin-A that causes atypical myopathy in horses.

I've not read that other Acer species are a problem... OP might not need to worry too much, of these turn out to be field maple.

Its worth checking what they actually are. I cut down what I thought was a sycamore but was in fact a field maple. I still feel bad about it now.

OP - can you fence the bit of field off until you are able to deal with them?
There was a thread a week or so ado about this subject which might be helpful.

 

[spotty_pony]

Yes they are fenced off for now. Do field maple produce seedlings too then? How do I tell the difference?

 

[SantaVera]

field maples are ok. they look sycamore like but are not poisionous.

 

[TheMule]

All trees produce seedlings. You need to identify the parent tree to know what they are- sycamore and field maple look very similar. Field maple is much more common.

 

[HBB]

Grazon Pro herbicide will kill sycamore seedings.

 

[Keith_Beef]

Acer pseudoplatanus is the sycomore, and Acer campestre is the field maple.

Sycomore bark and leaf.

Field maple bark and leaf.

If the bark looks scaly and flaky, it's probably sycomore.
If the leaves have toothed edges, it's probably sycomore.
If the seeds join together at about 50°, it's probably sycomore.

If the bark has deep vertical ridges, it's probably field maple.
If the leaves have smooth edges, it's probably field maple.
If the seeds join together at almost 180°, it's probably field maple.

 

[meleeka]

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/prim...13/09/25/autumnwatch-3-maple-or-sycamore/amp/. Lots on google

 

[Lois Lame]

Thank you meleeka. From your link I think my self-sown maple is a field maple. I've been wondering for a long time what it is. It's a happy little tree, about 6m high now, and at his very widest would be 2m. He copes well with a fair bit of shade from an English elm to the North and lots of garden all around.

 

[GreyMane]

Field maple goes a lovely yellow in autumn. Leaves are much smaller than sycamore (palm of hand size or less), and leaf lobes are blunt/rounded. Sycamore leaf is more pointed and larger (saucer+)