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Amelanchier 'Snowflakes' growing suckers.

daisymdaisym Posts: 108
in Plants
I planted this tree in March this year and it seems to be thriving. It did produce a few flowers and berries.  It is about 1.8m high. Today I noticed what look like a couple of suckers growing from the base of the trunk. I don't know if this variety is grafted or not so not sure what to do with the 'suckers'. Do I remove them? if so, what is the best way to do that? I would be grateful as always from any advice. Many thanks.

Showing suckers from the base of the amelanchier trunk.
Leaf of amelanchier is below leaf of sucker.
East Dunbartonshire

Posts

  • coccinellacoccinella Posts: 1,428
    Amelanchier can be grown as a tree or a shrub, so I reckon it will always produce ground shoots. If you want a tree I don't see why you shouldn't remove the suckers

    More experienced gardeners here will come up with what to do but it should be a straight forward base cut of the sucker. 

    Luxembourg
  • WoodgreenWoodgreen Posts: 1,273
    edited August 2022
    Zooming in on the base of the trunk it does look as though it may be a grafted tree. And the leaves are different to the darker 'Snowflakes' leaves in the photo.
    So I would say remove those new growths in case it is grafted onto a different rootstock as this could take over, spoiling the tree.
  • daisymdaisym Posts: 108
    Thank you so much for the replies.

    @coccinella it is because the leaves of the tree and the suckers are quite different that I thought the tree must be grafted onto a rootstock of some kind. I have googled without success to see if this is a possibility. For the site that the tree is in, I didn't want a multistemmed bush as there are shrubs growing in front of it.

    @Woodgreen I think I will remove the suckers as you say. I presume they will grow back but I will keep an eye on it. It is a lovely tree and I am looking forward to the autumn colours. 

    Thanks both.
    East Dunbartonshire
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