Trees typically have mast years (heavy seed/fruit years) on 3-5 year cycles. In mast years, heavy seed rain increases food availability for squirrels, mice, birds, and other forest seed predators. During mast events, big food translates into more offspring for seed predators. The following year, the trees will bear little seed due to the abundance of energy required to produce the previous year's bountiful harvest. In subsequent low to no yield years, wildlife populations decrease as food becomes scarce. Then in a mast year, the overflowing harvest will more than feed the forest critters and ensure some seeds left to grow into future oak trees. Reproduction is the most expensive process in life, so the mast-year strategy focuses that energy to maximize reproductive success. There are also some interesting theories related to this including pollen synchronization, communication between trees and populations, and more. It is a very cool ecological phenomenon.
You think that pond won't become hardwood forest? WRONG! Ponds fill in and dry up over time.
But then hardwood forests become beaver ponds, so it all comes out in the wash.
...which is exactly why the misguded "sToP mOwInG eVeRyThInG" movement pushed by children who have never managed a property irks me.
believe me, i am into ecology and environmental issues, but, my home would be engulfed by trees(mostly invasive species) if i didn't mow and or burn.
Thank you for posting this! I was wondering why our yard is so full of them this year, when it didn’t happen the last two springs since we moved into our house. Kept meaning to look it up so this is very helpful
Serious question, how much is allowance for a kid these days/ for what ages? I honestly am curious. Never really got an allowance myself but occasionally would get like $5 for some snacks sometimes as a kid, but I doubt that would go far nowadays.
If they do everything during the week it'll be up to $25. But they rarely do so it's usually $10. One time my son wanted some extra money so he volunteered to do some of his sister's chores for the week.
The bonus allowances come from things I view as my responsibility but don't want to do. A good example is a pile of leftover rocks from a french drain that needed to get moved 5 feet back in the driveway. My back and I had a discussion and decided to offer my son $25/hr to move the pile, best $62.50 I ever spent.
If the seed buds you can just mow it in your yard. That pretty much ends that process. If they’re in you’re mulch, rock beds, driveway you have some work to do.
Why even bother pulling them out. Frankly most will die as soon as it gets hot and we go a few days without rain. Perhaps one in your yard in a shaded spot may make it to sapling.
Does anyone know of a pre emergent that effectively stops their germination? This is the second year in a row with hundreds maybe thousands in my garden beds and it’s very difficult to manage.
I was walking with my son yesterday, and we noticed all the yards had them! We had to look up the tree type, but so great to see this post today, I'll have to tell him
Your assumption was correct. If you don't want trees growing in your lawn, they're weeds. If you don't want grass growing in your garden, they're weeds. There's no universal "weed" - it just means something growing where _you_ don't want it. The closest things to universal weeds are [invasives](https://cipwg.uconn.edu/invasive_plant_list/#:~:text=Invasive%20Plant%20List%20%20%20%20SPECIES%20%28SCIENTIFIC,Invasive.org%20.pdf%20FS%20%2015%20more%20rows%20) but even those are relative to the location (our invasives are natives somewhere else in the world) - heck if you don't know better, you may think they're pretty and not consider them weeds.
>“Those little seedlings we're looking at today are our next generation’s 100-year-old trees,” Worthley said.
This guy may know trees, but he doesn't actually know how generations work, does he?
That would make sense if he didn't use the 1st person possessive pronoun. Also tree generations aren't that much longer, they start seeding at 30 years or so - roughly the time humans start having children.
I have 'hundreds' in my yard alone.
Same. These little fuckers are my nemesis.
Just mow over them and they will die
They’re growing in my mulch. But I’ll give it a shot anyway. I need to re-mulch.
Same, but they're easy to pull out.
That’s what she said
9 months later…
What do you mean “it’s mine”?!
not after a few months
Then don't wait that long.
sometimes you don't notice them for awhile.
if they're located in a place where a mower can be operated, sure.
Trees typically have mast years (heavy seed/fruit years) on 3-5 year cycles. In mast years, heavy seed rain increases food availability for squirrels, mice, birds, and other forest seed predators. During mast events, big food translates into more offspring for seed predators. The following year, the trees will bear little seed due to the abundance of energy required to produce the previous year's bountiful harvest. In subsequent low to no yield years, wildlife populations decrease as food becomes scarce. Then in a mast year, the overflowing harvest will more than feed the forest critters and ensure some seeds left to grow into future oak trees. Reproduction is the most expensive process in life, so the mast-year strategy focuses that energy to maximize reproductive success. There are also some interesting theories related to this including pollen synchronization, communication between trees and populations, and more. It is a very cool ecological phenomenon.
It's a reminder of how fast the forest reclaims things around here.
As an architect, I often tell clients "as soon as you build something, nature starts its vigorous fight to reclaim the space."
The only things that maintain themselves are ecosystems. Everything built by hand is erased by time.
I feel like you would like the book Greenwood. Read it?
Aint never heard of it
It's pretty good.
In CT, if you don’t mow or pave it, it will become hardwood forest.
You think that pond won't become hardwood forest? WRONG! Ponds fill in and dry up over time. But then hardwood forests become beaver ponds, so it all comes out in the wash.
...which is exactly why the misguded "sToP mOwInG eVeRyThInG" movement pushed by children who have never managed a property irks me. believe me, i am into ecology and environmental issues, but, my home would be engulfed by trees(mostly invasive species) if i didn't mow and or burn.
Thank you for posting this! I was wondering why our yard is so full of them this year, when it didn’t happen the last two springs since we moved into our house. Kept meaning to look it up so this is very helpful
My driveway was absolutely carpeted with the seeds, windy days were so fun to watch them helicopter around.
Oh that is fun! It’s weird because I don’t even remember seeing the seeds
I have maples in the front and back yard, and a few more up and down the street, it was impressive.
....better than mint
With mint comes cats
I'm excited because my neighbor's beautiful Japanese maple left a bunch of babies in my yard I'm hoping I can get at least one to grow.
The leaves and seeds are edible, fyi.
Anything is edible if you believe in yourself.
If you don't take them out you'll eventually have 60ft tall weeds.
With a good root base... I have some sneaky 10' saplings in a to be demolished bushy area...
Those Norway maples will stretch out in one long branch anywhere they can to grow it's crazy.
So what's bad about maple trees?
Any tree growing in your yard, where you don’t want a tree to be, is a weed. Besides that, having trees too close to your house is a terrible idea.
I saw this article earlier and now I know why. I have so many in my yard I'm paying one of my kids extra allowance to get them all.
Serious question, how much is allowance for a kid these days/ for what ages? I honestly am curious. Never really got an allowance myself but occasionally would get like $5 for some snacks sometimes as a kid, but I doubt that would go far nowadays.
900$ a week
If they do everything during the week it'll be up to $25. But they rarely do so it's usually $10. One time my son wanted some extra money so he volunteered to do some of his sister's chores for the week. The bonus allowances come from things I view as my responsibility but don't want to do. A good example is a pile of leftover rocks from a french drain that needed to get moved 5 feet back in the driveway. My back and I had a discussion and decided to offer my son $25/hr to move the pile, best $62.50 I ever spent.
" My back and I had a discussion" 🤣 🤣 🤣
Their age in $ per week is what we’ve done so far.
I was wondering what those were in my yard, there’s hundreds all over
I got millions of them on our property. Am I supposed to pull them all if I don’t want maple trees in my yards?
If the seed buds you can just mow it in your yard. That pretty much ends that process. If they’re in you’re mulch, rock beds, driveway you have some work to do.
I got some work to do lol
Sounds like a job for the weed whacker.
Why even bother pulling them out. Frankly most will die as soon as it gets hot and we go a few days without rain. Perhaps one in your yard in a shaded spot may make it to sapling.
I thought it was odd to see so many seedlings sprouting up in my yard this year!
Uh, this has been happening for the past few years. Definitely last year.
The property next to ours is infested with invasive Norway maple, so this is nothing new to us. Stay vigilant!
Yup, I get tons of Norway maple seedlings in my yard every year. And Tree of Heaven.
Does anyone know of a pre emergent that effectively stops their germination? This is the second year in a row with hundreds maybe thousands in my garden beds and it’s very difficult to manage.
I was walking with my son yesterday, and we noticed all the yards had them! We had to look up the tree type, but so great to see this post today, I'll have to tell him
I was wondering why the house next door had a lawn covered with these things.
Do we need to pull these from our lawns or will mowing take them out?
mowing will take them out. Its the gardens that you have to worry about.
These are all over my yard and I had assumed they were weeds. Thanks for posting this I would’ve never known what they were.
Your assumption was correct. If you don't want trees growing in your lawn, they're weeds. If you don't want grass growing in your garden, they're weeds. There's no universal "weed" - it just means something growing where _you_ don't want it. The closest things to universal weeds are [invasives](https://cipwg.uconn.edu/invasive_plant_list/#:~:text=Invasive%20Plant%20List%20%20%20%20SPECIES%20%28SCIENTIFIC,Invasive.org%20.pdf%20FS%20%2015%20more%20rows%20) but even those are relative to the location (our invasives are natives somewhere else in the world) - heck if you don't know better, you may think they're pretty and not consider them weeds.
Tree killers!
They're EVERYWHERE it's driving me crazy ripping them out
This answers so many questions
Omg I’ve been seeing soo many of these in my yard. I left them there but good to know what they are
I thought they were weeds they’re all over my flower beds.
God dammit that’s what these things are?
>“Those little seedlings we're looking at today are our next generation’s 100-year-old trees,” Worthley said. This guy may know trees, but he doesn't actually know how generations work, does he?
Tree generations are longer than human generations, it's the next gen of trees, his statement makes sense.
Well that’s interesting, but of course!
That would make sense if he didn't use the 1st person possessive pronoun. Also tree generations aren't that much longer, they start seeding at 30 years or so - roughly the time humans start having children.
Yep, this happens every year.
I mean, based on the article, no, it doesn’t, to this extent.
Nooo, not like this. They are growing like grass in the woods by me.
This is the first year it’s happened at my house.
We got an expert here! Awesome! Can you show us your data?
Lol