Which Trees are Sap Producers?

S

Setec Astronomy

Well-known member
I have been encountering a sap problem recently in my driveway, which I never had before (I don't think). Not sure if it was the stretch of very hot weather a couple weeks ago, or I never noticed before, or if a tree just grew to the right place to reach, but anyway, I can't figure out for sure which tree it is.



I have a big pine tree some distance away, but it looks like the sap drift would be blocked by another tree. I have a sycamore which would be the likely candidate, but I never noticed a problem from this tree before. Any ideas? Any online resources for this?
 
Oh yes, I hated nearly every time of year in NJ. I literally couldn't park the car in the driveway for long before sap fell on it. :mad: I think just about every conceivable tree there produces it. :(



If Amazon has a book on identifying bug guts, I'm sure they have one on sap.
 
LOL--I guess I didn't keep track of that bug guts thread closely enough! Bill, maybe my paint was so bad on the other car I just never noticed the sap :o



You must be up here now, Bill?
 
My wife parks down wind from a saw mill which processes mostly pine. When the day is right you can hardly see through the windows. SUCKS!
 
Cut the tree down that covers your driveway or cut back the branches. I was over a friends house and he darn near lives in a jungle. I had billions of tiny flecks of sap on my car. First I thought it was dust since I had just washed and waxed. I washed the car immediately and it came off.
 
Adamah said:
Is the sap big globs or hundreds of little drops? What kind of trees do you have in your yard?
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It's lots of little drops. I've got a sycamore close to the driveway, some maples, a Japanese pagoda, and a laurel, I think.
 
Spilchy said:
Cut the tree down that covers your driveway or cut back the branches. I was over a friends house and he darn near lives in a jungle. I had billions of tiny flecks of sap on my car. First I thought it was dust since I had just washed and waxed. I washed the car immediately and it came off.
Click to expand...



Well, this is a double-edged sword, of course, because no trees = no shade. If I was sure which was the offending tree, I would look at trimming it back...hence my question in this thread.
 
If its tons of tiny drops I'd suspect an aphid problem rather than sap. Aphids excrete something called honeydew that many people mistake for tree sap. I've seen it so bad that you could actually see a mist of it rain down from the tops of trees.

Do a google search for "aphid honeydew" and see if you recognize any aphid sign in your trees.
 
We have mostly oak trees here. The sap was awful in late May/early June but now it's not a problem anymore. They are great for shade this time of year. There aren't any pine trees. Pine trees are the worst when it comes to sap. I park my car far, far away from them.



I have this very annoying huge Holly tree which grows over my driveway. It's worthless for shade because at any time of the year it sheds sharp leaves and berries and the birds love to sit in it and drop bombs. Sometimes my driveway will be full of those sharp leaves and that makes things painful when I lay on the driveway to work on the cars. Because of this Holly tree I've given up working in the driveway and now just pull the cars off onto the grass to clean the car. :wall



I hate Holly trees. :angry
 
cedar trees are absolutely nasty! My mother has a row of them along side of her driveway. I thought it was great shade to wash and wax the car in. came back after I had finished and sat down for a few beers and the car looked like it had been sprinkled with sap. Very pissed off... Megs#34 and a MF took most of it back off. Never washing the car there again.... or i will just drive it into her back yard!
 
Live Oaks are horrible right when they start putting out pollen and when their leaves fall. Crape Myrtles are even worse. It is like it is raining if you park under one when the flowers are in bloom.
 
Scottwax said:
Live Oaks are horrible right when they start putting out pollen and when their leaves fall.
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Yep, that's when the sap is bad in my yard. When the trees are pollinating (Late May-early June) and to a lesser extent when the leaves fall (late October). Drives me nuts as 9 out of 10 trees here are oak but at least most of the time it's not a problem. No sap right now, which is a relief because it's a major PITA to spend hours cleaning the car only to have it ruined in 5 minutes. :wall
 
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