Rising Sap

February 2009

Step back and watch the growth because the sap is rising. Many folk are aware of a natural sense of exhilaration at this time of year and plants are no different, the sap is absolutely gushing up some trees and will pour out of any cut or wound like a waterfall.

Last week (February 20th) we were topping some trees at Hawkshead. A self-set ash tree had been allowed to grow for several years in a beech hedge and needed some serious cutting back. After a few cuts with heavy loppers and some larger limbs reduced with the chain saw it was remarkable to see the sap ooze out instantly.

The larger cuts were practically flowing like a stream, and the smaller cuts dripping as if they needed a new washer.

I wasn’t sure how to feel, it was almost as if I had cut some fingers off a haemophiliac and the bleeding would never end. In all my years I had never observed so much sap coming out of a pruned limb.

Maple syrup is made from the sap of maple trees, primarily sugar maple (Acer saccharum). Native to the hardwood forests of northeastern North America.

In early springtime, the stored sugars in trees begins rising up the stem. This sugar is more concentrated than at other times of the year. A hole is drilled into the stem of the tree, a spout is driven into the hole, and the sap drips out into buckets or into tubing. The sap is then boiled to concentrate the sugars.

Click on the link in the following image to read a super article on maple syrup collection.



The whole process must give the sugar collectors a rush when they discover the time is perfect for collecting. Something I am keen to experience in the future and perhaps planting a few sugar maples in selected gardens will be an exciting project.

Maple sugaring is a magical tradition. No one but Mother Nature can predict when sap will start running, but the season typically begins between mid-February and March and lasts for four to six weeks. Since sugaring time differs from region to region (sap runs earlier in southern locations), be flexible when planning trip dates.

It is possible to make wine from the rising sap of the Silver Birch tree.

Click here to check out sap tapping at Lurgashall Winery, ready to make Silver Birch Wine.

Lurgashall Winery is located some 6 miles from Haslemere, Petworth and Midhurst and can be reached from London or Portsmouth via the A3.

When tidying up the trunk, after removing a major branch, try to get the main axis of the cut running up the trunk. This allows the rising sap to heal the wound quicker than a horizontal cut, which creates a 'dead' area above the cut, killing the bark there and increasing the time it takes for the bark to roll over the wound.

Some say you can hear the sap rising in Spring, and I wouldn’t doubt that for one moment after witnessing the ash tree gushing and flushing.