You’re cutting crepe myrtle. Now how do you stop suckers?

a: Trees didn’t get their place as the longest-living plants by promising to sprout from just a seed. Although some tree species can live for hundreds, even thousands, of years supported by a single trunk, many species also create clones by sending out suckers from their roots. These suckers can form while the original stem is still alive, as well as long after it’s gone, she discovered. When the suckers are left to grow, they eventually become wide and tall enough to look like whole trees.

But it’s fun to delight in the ragged gold leaves of a grove of quivering poplars that grew from suckers in a national forest—and quite another thing to see little trees sprout in the grass or flower beds. You can let the sucker grow if you want a new crepe myrtle tree in this location. Otherwise, the easiest solution is to pull or cut the lollipops as they pop up. If it is short and small, you may be able to take it out manually; They often separate from the roots at this point. If the stems grow longer and the stems become thicker, you will need to use nippers. Clipping suckers over the soil can leave hard calluses on the feet. Also, a seed can germinate in a new set of suckers, which means it doesn’t do well just to mow it. Cut below the soil surface – ideally, where the absorbent contacts the rootstock. If you want to keep the scissors clean, or if your soil has gravel and you don’t want to break up the blade, use a shovel to remove a little soil first, make the cut, and then fill in the hole you made.

The crape myrtle tree lacks a rootstock; Instead, it has fibrous roots 10 to 12 inches deep. Therefore, if you are willing to reformat a large part of your plot, it may be possible to remove the roots and eliminate the problem permanently. Be prepared for a lot of digging, though: The roots of the crape myrtle can extend two or three times the branches you’ve reached once they reach.

Since the prospect of having to remove suckers frequently is so annoying and the alternative to rooting out so daunting, a chemical solution may seem an attractive alternative. Yes, it is possible to use herbicides to help prevent the formation of new suckers. But it is not a permanent solution: new suckers will continue to form, but not so quickly. Products like Monterey Sucker-Stopper RTU ($51.99 for a 16-ounce spray bottle) Amazon) And the Bonned lollipop punch ($21.99 for an 8-ounce bottle with brush applicator under the cap) contains ethyl 1-naphthaleneacetate, a growth regulator that prevents suckers from growing from the roots and trimming wounds for up to six months. To use on root suckers of crape myrtle and other woody ornamentals, apply Sucker-Stopper when shoots are no longer than 10 inches long, according to the label. Wear goggles, gloves, and clothing that prevents any product from entering your eyes or skin. The instructions also state that the herbicide should only be applied to the suckers, not to the soil or other nearby plants. Using an atomizer, this can be difficult to achieve. You may want to try cleaning it with a small disposable brush.

Crape myrtle are not the only trees known to produce a lot of buds and buds. The Sucker-Stopper label also lists its usefulness on 15 other types of ornamental trees, including elm, carob, flowering peach, and several types of maple, as well as apples, pears, and olives. When suckers are a problem near a tree that someone wants to keep, proper pruning can go a long way toward reducing the sucker problem, because suckers are more likely to form when the tree is under stress. Overdoing it.

Although it is certainly possible to leave a sucker or two to grow where you want a new tree, if the original tree is grafted, as fruit trees often do, suckers will be the variety used for root stock. Tree nurseries often feed shoots that will grow into branches that will give good-tasting fruit on a root stock selected for a different purpose, such as the size the tree will eventually grow to. Suckers from these trees will not produce the same type of fruit and may be frustrated.