Sycamore - who has one?

I could never understand all the weeping wailing and gnashing of teeth about the Sycamore Gap tree tbh.

Gwyllt

Such fun Did you mention the honey dew that covers a car if anyone is daft enough to park under it. To add insult to injury there was a tree preservation order on it as apparently it was a fantastic shape as the canopy grew unhindered. Not my problem any more we moved

They’re a nightmare if you have one in your presumably large garden or a neighbouring one.
I don’t have a garden, just a yard with pots but a few streets away as I walk or cycle to work I pass one that must be 80ft high.They look lovely but must be so much work and spread easily, a bit like Ash trees.

We have one behind our home in what was a school playing field ! It has become unruly and overshadows our tiny garden. Plus its roots are causing the old dry stone walls to begin to bow outwards.
I am onto our local council to either cull it, but it might have a TPO, or trim it right back. Other neighbours have no idea how invasive their helicopter type seedlings are. They are a sticky, nasty tree and before you pile on, I love trees just not these trees. 🌲

Very toxic to horses - many die every year due to ingesting seeds, saplings and leaves that blow onto their paddocks.

Our neighbour had several (!). An absolute nightmare, especially the seedlings that came up everywhere.
Cut down, remove, burn, poison, all of the above….

I've learnt something as I wasn't aware that sycamores could have TPOs - I thought they were mostly regarded as weeds!

I have two huge sycamores growing in the garden backing onto me, scuppered my plans for veggie garden there, takes all light, and gifts me thousands of seedlings every year, grrrr!!!

Glad to help OldFrill. The house would have to be really nice for me to buy it with a giant sycamore with a TPO in the middle of the lawn. Happy hunting and hope you find something suitable soon.

Thank you Avalon - It's a house I was interested in buying, but there are a few concerns, including the sycamores, so I've walked away.

I had 5 when I moved here, 2 of which had TPO’s. 3 were cut down and eventually the Council reevaluated their TPOs and removed them from the other two which we quickly despatched and planted some nicer trees instead. There was a long period of removing thousands of the seeds from the gutters which they blocked, and pulling seedlings self seeded in the garden - I used to count them as I pulled them out and regularly got into the thousands. You have my sympathies Oldfrill. There is still one tree on the boundary and I do get the odd sapling springing up unnoticed initially in the borders which I then have to dig out.

Monica - l hope your method controls/eliminates future growth, good luck!

NotSpag - the tree concerning me is in a garden within the TPO mapped area so is covered by the TPO. Getting 50 households to contribute to insurance isn't a task I'd take on. I've ruled this house out as there are other issues along with the sycamore.

Had a look at another house today which shows likely evidence of amateur attempts at Japanese Knotweed removal, he'd probably have been better to leave it alone.

I have seedlings everywhere and ones that managed several years growth, were cut down and keep sending up more twigs. I have got one of those gas wand weed killers and I have taken this to the stumps and burned them for about five minutes so the wood is too damaged to resprout.

So maybe the one that would bother you doesn't have a TPO?
Or do you mean it does have a TPO but is outwith the common ownership area?

I would think some kind of common insurance plan might be in order for the ones in the common ownership area.

We had next doors (not really very big but still mature) silver birch fall into our garden years ago.
We were out so it missed the car.
I expect we would have had to claim on our insurance otherwise.

Nothing to do with sycamores but I do still miss a fabulous Lombardy Poplar that was cut down from the very end of my door neighbour's back garden garden.
It was in the perfect spot for me - as blocked all view of a modern estate diagonally behind our property. The man in that newish corner-house behind (!) called the council and asked if he could cut it down or if it had a TPO. and gave the address of my next door neighbour.

The council said yes it could be cut down and as soon as the house was unoccupied he came in over the fence with his crew and chopped it down!

No repercussions as next door "couldn't be bothered" to challenge him as "it was already gone".

He had been moaning to them about the leaves and the shade ever since he moved in.

I can only assume that the council thought he was the householder.

NotSpaghetti - thank you for your feedback, much appreciated. Just for info the TPO in this case covers every tree within a mapped area, not just particular individual trees. The land is mainly in common custodianship (bar the one tree I'm particularly concerned about) and would be a nightmare to gather the funds should these trees become problematic or cause damage to people or property.

Having lived near land stripped of scores of huge trees in winter storms and experienced the devastation of Ash Die Back it has made me aware of the downside of the responsibility of living with or near huge trees.

I have a seedling - which is due to be dug up.

A huge sycamore towers over the development landscaping at the front of our home. It’s planted at the edge of a neighbouring development - in their car park of all places thankfully not adjacent to our car park. The seeds lodge in the block paving, appear in our grass (can’t call it a lawn) and seem to love our planters. Several mini trees are growing amongst the dense landscaping. The tree looks magnificent, I just wish it would keep its seeds to itself.

I have a pyracantha hedge growing along the outside of my garden wall, and sycamore seeds have lodged there over the years where, once they started growing, it’s proved difficult to get to the saplings to eradicate them. They just sit there saying Ha Ha Ha!! All I can do is reach in as far as I can with long loppers and cut out the worst but this is not a long term solution. We are surrounded by mature trees, many of which are sycamores.

We don't have one but my neighbour has two. Both grow next to our fence and I do feel one in particular makes rather more shade that I'd like in that area but it was there when we came nearly 30 years ago and a small price to pay for it's beauty.

Like Grammaretto I love them.
There used to be a pair of magnificent limes two houses along and they just chopped one down over a weekend a couple of years ago.
I'm afraid I requested a TPO on the other straight away and an emergency order was put on it. The house was making a paved area for (yet) more cars.

We need these amazing old beasts.
If you aren't wanting to pick up the seedlings/leaves then you are right not to move there.

If the sycamores have TPOs they must be magnificent specimens as my local tree officer says they have to meet a very high bar to get a TPO because they are "common".

Me too, Georgesgran. The sycamore tree at the bottom of my neighbour's garden is as tall and as wide as my two storey semi detached house.
It is absolutely not a suburban garden tree, but belongs in a ( large) park. It will cost a significant amount to remove.
I understand that the Romans planted sycamores in Britain as fast growing, straight trees, to provide wood for stockades and buildings.

Georgesgran

My neighbour behind me has a giant specimen - it’s a bloody nightmare. It casts a huge shadow over my garden, I get 80% of the leaf-fall to pick up and dozens of seedlings all over the garden to get out before the corkscrew roots get a hold. My Gardener says sycamores are just giant weeds. I hope this one dies before me!

Yes, the ultimate suburban garden 'nightmare'.

They grow so very darn fast, seemingly sprouting from nowhere, eventually becoming as wide as they are tall.

And a qualified tree surgeon (as opposed to some White Van Man with a chainsaw) is eye-wateringly expensive.

Thank you all, l had googled etc but was hoping Google exaggerated, unfortunately seems not.

Thank goodness the remedy worked MayBee!

I bought a new car ( the only time I’d had one from new) and was horrified after a hot day to find it covered in baked on sap. This was late at night but, thanks to Google I read that fabric conditioner would remove it so, at 1 in the morning I was frantically cleaning my car. Thankfully it worked. I really thought the car was ruined.

MayBee - So sorry you can't enjoy your garden. I thought this one tree was an majestic until l saw it was a Sycamore.

Grammaretto - I hope your beautiful sycamore doesn't succumb to the Sooty Bark Disease. Ash dieback continues to devastate in many areas.

MT62 - if you mean can l cut it down, it's not mine to cut down and looks unlikely it ever will be. It also has a TPO as do all the others outwith the garden.

Such fun Did you mention the honey dew that covers a car if anyone is daft enough to park under it. To add insult to injury there was a tree preservation order on it as apparently it was a fantastic shape as the canopy grew unhindered. Not my problem any more we moved