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TreeDimensional · 28th January 2008, 01:41 PM

Interesting topic Mario, I am asked about this by clients all the time. Occasionally we are asked to come and look at the outbreak of New growth, even if a tree hasn't been removed recently. I believe this is a survival action of a severly stressed tree, not unlike the reaction of the root system of a tree that has been removed.

Some clients don't want, or can't afford to have their stumps ground, but don't want suckers growing all over the yard either. We were told of a recipe for a sure fire way to keep the sprouts from growing. It involved gouging a circle with the tip of the chainsaw bar around the circumferance of the active xylem. The pour a mixture of glyphosate and water into the cut. Well I can attest to the fact that it does work, BUT there can be unexpected results too. I unfortunatley killed a couple non-target trees (100' away). NEVER UNDER ESTIMATE THE SIZE OF THE ROOT SYSTEM. In this case the root grafts were enough to negatively impact neighboring trees.

At this point of my learning curve, I have adopted a policy of stump grinding ONLY. I believe that the best approach is to remove as much of the root plate as possible. My theory is that this will shorten the effects of sprouting, as the root system will be unable to move resourses from optimal areas to less thrifty ones. The problem is there will still be suckering, what should I tell my clients to do? Are there other options that are freasible?

A caveat to all this is of course is the type of tree and the soil in which the roots reside.

28th January 2008, 01:41 PM	#2 (permalink)
TreeDimensional Banned Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Canada Posts: 379	Re: Removing trees w/ roots that sprout Interesting topic Mario, I am asked about this by clients all the time. Occasionally we are asked to come and look at the outbreak of New growth, even if a tree hasn't been removed recently. I believe this is a survival action of a severly stressed tree, not unlike the reaction of the root system of a tree that has been removed. Some clients don't want, or can't afford to have their stumps ground, but don't want suckers growing all over the yard either. We were told of a recipe for a sure fire way to keep the sprouts from growing. It involved gouging a circle with the tip of the chainsaw bar around the circumferance of the active xylem. The pour a mixture of glyphosate and water into the cut. Well I can attest to the fact that it does work, BUT there can be unexpected results too. I unfortunatley killed a couple non-target trees (100' away). NEVER UNDER ESTIMATE THE SIZE OF THE ROOT SYSTEM. In this case the root grafts were enough to negatively impact neighboring trees. At this point of my learning curve, I have adopted a policy of stump grinding ONLY. I believe that the best approach is to remove as much of the root plate as possible. My theory is that this will shorten the effects of sprouting, as the root system will be unable to move resourses from optimal areas to less thrifty ones. The problem is there will still be suckering, what should I tell my clients to do? Are there other options that are freasible? A caveat to all this is of course is the type of tree and the soil in which the roots reside.