Man versus sycamore

It's not that I have it in for all sycamore trees. They can be a very fine tree - in the right place. Preferably in parkland where their devil's spawn seedlings will get mowed as soon as they dare to show their vile faces above ground. Ditto their cousins the Norway maples. Lovely autumn colours, bla bla bla.

But where we don't want to see these invaders is in woodland where we want to encourage invertebrates and other wildlife and where they are so damn prolific they threaten to suppress native species such as oak, ash, field maple, elder etc.

Friends of Sharphill Wood are conducting an ongoing battle to remove the sycamores and Norways, which have been introduced to this island in recent centuries by man, and encourage the species that have been here longer (and to which our wildlife is adapted). This way the native species and wildlife will, we hope, thrive.We used to just saw through the larger invaders, effectively coppicing them so the wretched things sprouted again the following year. Nowadays we poison the stumps in a safe fashion, using Ecoplugs.

But the best way is to get the saplings young enough to dig up. It is possibly the most satisfying job in the wood! You can vent all sorts of spleen, using a spade against these enemies: scything through roots, levering them until they snap, and finally heaving them out of the  All sorts of anger related to ISIS/Boko Haram/UKIP/the privatisation of the NHS/the changes to the Guardian's Weekend magazine etc can be expended.

Not that I was bothered by these things whilst wielding a spade for nearly 5 hours last week. There is enough to think about, trying to use as little energy per sapling as possible. The conditions were excellent: dry, warm but not hot, and no biting insects for a change.

Photo by Kate Troy

Unfortunately sycamores will be an ongoing problem because there are several large trees which cannot be removed, even by contractors, because their loss will change the canopy and the view of the wood from the surrounding city and countryside. So the fight will go on.