So, suckers...
LG_
Posts: 4,353
I've been reading the various sumach / rhus posts with interest. I have a similar problem with a plum tree (thought it was a cherry until recently, but that's another story). When the garden was all overgrown here were two large saplings in addition to the main tree. I mistakenly thought they were self seeded, but when we cleared the garden it became clear they were suckers (which we then cut down). During the same work, a large root from the main tree also got damaged, and we pruned some branches.
So - you can probably guess what is happening. Lots of suckers, even at some distance from the tree, lots of sprouting from the stumps of the previous suckers. I don't want to risk killing the main tree but I don't know what is the best course of action to minimise the suckering action that is happening. Initially I thought I would just have to remove them as they appeared, but I now fear this will make things worse.
Any advice, good people?
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The best way to deal with suckers is to dig down to where they join and physically pull them from the root. This makes it less likely for new suckers to appear from the same spot whereas cutting them off with secateurs etc actually promotes new shoots, just like above-ground pruning does.
Thanks Bob (sorry, had completely forgotten I'd posted this and didn't spot a notification of your reply).
I am worried that in digging down to them I might damage further roots and encourage yet more suckers. It's really tempting to put a bit of weedkiller on the furthest ones in the hope of weakening them but not killing the tree... best not, I know.
Actually, you can put weed killer on the suckers without killing the main tree. It takes more than the amount absorbed by a shoot like that to transfer into the main growth. We have done this to the Greengage suckers which kept coming up in our grass and the tree survived (until we had a gale which snapped it off about a metre up)
Oooh...
So, can you tell me more? I *really* don't want to kill the tree, but I have a feeling that any other methods of management might actually make things worse, due to the location and depth of the suckers. Some are a couple of feet tall now - would I just give them a little blast, or cut them down a bit? Should I limit the weedkiller treatment to those in the grass and attempt to dig down to the source of the others? Etc etc.
I would try it on one of them first and see what happens. We used Roundup painted on to the leaves. It may take a fair while to deal with all of them and it is better not to do them all at once, that might give the tree a fatal shock.
Obviously avoid getting the stuff on the grass though.
As for the ones in soil, then yes go for the old fashioned method. Find the root where the sucker emerges and rather than cutting it off, try to scoop out the point of origin, say about a tea-spoon depth into the old root. Not easy, I know. You need a good strong sharp knife to do it.
I'll take my time... I take my time over everything
Thanks for the advice. It's a big strong tree but I'll be gentle.
Be careful with weedkiller! When I worked as a gardener I cut down a small cherry tree in my customer's garden and applied stump killer, because neither he nor I realised it was a sucker from a tree 25 feet away. The parent tree died too...
That was what I was afraid of... but I won't use anything as strong as stump killer.