<\/p>\n
You may have seen small sprouts emerging from the base of a tree and thought little of them. But these shoots of new growth, known as suckers, actually are undesirable and should be removed whenever they appear.<\/p>\n
Suckers divert energy that could otherwise go toward the rest of the tree. Beyond that, they don\u2019t do the tree any aesthetic favors. They create an unkempt appearance and, if left long enough to grow to larger sizes, they can alter the overall form of a tree.<\/p>\n
This problem is most common with crape myrtles and other ornamental species \u2014 but suckers can develop on any tree, big or small. They are a tree\u2019s way of handling stress.<\/p>\n
\u201cOftentimes, this is the result of some kind of mechanical wounding that can happen to the base of the trunk,\u201d said Damon Abdi, assistant professor of landscape horticulture at the LSU AgCenter Hammond Research Station.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Lawnmowers and string trimmers are two of the main culprits responsible for tree injury and suckers, Abdi said. Get too close while you\u2019re trying to cut grass or weeds around the tree, and you\u2019ll knock off some bark. As the tree tries to heal itself, its roots will send out shoots and leaves in search of sunlight and energy.<\/p>\n
Other factors, such as soil compaction and environmental stressors, can sometimes cause suckers, too.<\/p>\n
Abdi said it\u2019s important to stay on top of suckers so they don\u2019t get out of hand.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs these emerge, it\u2019s always a good practice to cut them out,\u201d Abdi said. \u201cYou can cut them out any time of year, and chances are you\u2019re going to have to make repeat cuts to keep them under control.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Sharp hand pruners will do the trick in most cases; you may need loppers for thicker suckers. Don\u2019t leave behind any stubs.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou want to remove them right to the edge of the trunk,\u201d Abdi said.<\/p>\n
As a preventative measure, he recommends spreading a layer of mulch around the tree.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat way, you\u2019re not having as much grass or weeds encroach on it,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s also going to help delineate areas of the landscape.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.nola.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" You may have seen small sprouts emerging from the base of a tree and thought little of them. But these shoots of new growth, known as suckers, actually are undesirable and should be removed whenever they appear. Suckers divert energy that could otherwise go toward the rest of the tree. Beyond that, they don\u2019t do […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2451299,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2451298","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Tree-suckers-should-be-cut-to-protect-trees-shape-energy.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2451298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2451298"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2451298\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2451300,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2451298\/revisions\/2451300"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2451299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2451298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2451298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2451298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}