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Remove or not?

pandpdeal73pandpdeal73 Posts: 6
in Plants
I have a dwarf standard lilac tree in a pot, it has a shoot growing from the bottom of the trunk, should I cut this off?
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Posts

  • Chrissy the gardenerChrissy the gardener Posts: 1,072
    A picture would be useful.
  • pandpdeal73pandpdeal73 Posts: 6
    w
  • pandpdeal73pandpdeal73 Posts: 6
    Sorry new to this 🙄
  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,385
    Yes!  Those shoots are from the rootstock (looks like it has been grafted) and if you leave them, they will take over and your standard will die.
    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • Pauline 7Pauline 7 Posts: 2,246
    The leaves look different to those on the main plant so I would assume that they are suckers from the dwarf stock that the lilac is grafted on.  I would remove them but others may have other ideas. 
    West Yorkshire
  • Pauline 7Pauline 7 Posts: 2,246
    Snap 
    West Yorkshire
  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,385
    :D
    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • pandpdeal73pandpdeal73 Posts: 6
    Thank you everyone for the advice, will remove them straight away.
    👍🏼
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    If you remove the sucker in the was described here for roses (scroll down to the section on suckers) https://www.rhs.org.uk/Advice/Profile?PID=776 

    it’ll help  prevent it regrowing. 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,385
    After you remove them (cut close to the main stem, or bend horizontal and they may snap off cleanly if you are lucky) but they will probably keep coming back as Hazel 1 mentions, so rub off any new buds you see forming anywhere on the main trunk below the crown in the future.
    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
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