Norway Maples

16 years ago

Hi all, would love to get some feedback about my plan to deal with Acer platanoides in my yard. The goal is to eradicate all but the 1 or 2 largest trees that are closest to the house.

The yard is 1.25 acres and it has an invasives problem. The previous owner actually planted the Norway maples over 40 years ago, and then spread them around. And of course, many planted themselves. There were literally hundreds of them here when I moved in 5 years ago.

So far, a little less than half of the trees have been removed in the following manner:

- Seedlings are pulled and saplings up to 1 inch diameter are removed using the Weed Wrench.

- Saplings and trees from 1 inch up to about 12 inches are being cut down and the stump sprayed with herbicide.

- Two large trees have been girdled by making two deep cuts all the way around the base of the tree about 1 foot apart. The girdling looks like this:

These girdled trees will be left standing to die and turn into snags. They will be HUGE snags, true, but they are growing a ways back on the lot and not at risk of falling over onto any structures. I'm worried they might be a bit unsightly though.

- One or two of the 3 largest will be removed by a professional tree service and chipped.

- The very largest tree, which is approx 50 years old and 32-36 inches in diameter, will be left alone. It is a beautiful tree, and just too costly to remove. I have done some limbing up of this tree. It has Vinca minor growing underneath, which I will mow into a nice shape and then let the two of these obnoxious non-natives co-exist happily together.

This plan is a lot of work, not to mention the possible thousands it would cost to remove 2 large trees. But I am an avid wildlife gardener and feel an obligation to do something about the invasives in the yard.

So any thoughts on this plan? Is it worth it to go to all this time and money to remove this invasive species?

Any ideas what I could do about the girdled trees?

Also, does Norway Maple wood have any commercial value?

Thanks so much for reading this and for any feedback you can share!

Comments (5)

pineresin
16 years ago
Sounds good.

Norway Maple wood is reasonably good quality, fairly similar to Sugar Maple wood. Wood sales are however very unlikely to recoup more than a small part of felling and extraction costs, given the small volume involved. Also, as with any garden tree, a sawmiller is unlikely to accept it without some form of guarantee of freedom from nails and other embedded metal.

Wood from the girdled trees will deteriorate after a year or so and no longer be saleable, though if you want to keep them for woodpecker breeding sites, that presumably doesn't matter.

Resin
terrene
Original Author
16 years ago
Hi pineresin, I don't expect to make any money on the wood, around here I think you have to pay extra to the tree service to have them haul off the wood. But at least if it makes good firewood, then maybe I could list the logs on freecycle and hopefully somebody would come and cut it up and haul it away.

In the UK, does Acer platanoides have invasive tendencies?

Anybody else have any thoughts about Norway maples? Anyone have to get rid of a lot of it?
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pineresin
16 years ago
"In the UK, does Acer platanoides have invasive tendencies?"

Slight, though not as much as Acer pseudoplatanus, nor as bad as I gather Acer platanoides is in the eastern US.

Resin
quirkyquercus
16 years ago
You've earned my appreciation. Thank You for doing your part to undo one of the many ways we as humans have made our impact on the land. Removing invasives is hard work and it costs. If you let it return to natural vegetation there by just letting it go, hopefully you'll get a helping of native plants and not too many invasives. Mother nature will probably pick out the best she's got for you for taking out the norway maples.
saccharum
16 years ago
Well, it's worth doing, particularly if you're a wildlife gardener. In addition to spreading aggressively and growing quickly as young trees, adult NM trees cast a dense shade which other plants have trouble surviving under (although I imagine the Vinca would do fine).

You're going to have a never-ending battle, though, if you leave the big trees. They will be a constant source of new seed. Even if you took them out now, you'd have seeds present in the soil for quite a while, germinating when they have the opportunity. And of course, they'll also be a source of seed that might establish into any nearby natural areas.

Norway Maples

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pineresin

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Norway Maples

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terrene
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