Suckers and what to do about them

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soozebf Las Vegas, NV May 26, 2010

Can anyone tell me what the term "suckers" refers to, specifically on roses and other small shrubs (petite crape myrtle and pineapple guava for example)? I think I have several. Do I need to do anything about them? What if I leave them alone?

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ecrane3 Dublin, CA(Zone 9a) May 26, 2010

Here are some definitions for you: http://davesgarden.com/guides/terms/go/890.html

Basically, suckers are growth that comes up from the base of the plant. Suckers can be a problem in a couple of situations:
1) if you have a grafted plant, the suckers are generally the rootstock plant, which is frequently more vigorous than the plant that's grafted on top so if you don't prune them out, eventually the rootstock will take over. This would be my concern with your rose--many roses are grafted.
2) if you have a plant like a crape myrtle and you want it to look like a tree rather than a shrub, you will need to prune out the suckers. This would also go for the pineapple guava. If you want them to be shrubs, then you don't necessarily need to prune out the suckers, but if you want them to look like trees then you'll need to.

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soozebf Las Vegas, NV May 29, 2010

Thanks so much ecrane3. Great answer. I think I will clean them off my roses, but leave them on the others, which I plan to groom as shrubs.

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midstategrower Holdrege, NE Jun 05, 2010

The University of Nebraska LIncoln says if you prune suckers (in this case speaking of roses) it will stimulate growth. If you yank them off, it is a wound so far as the tree is concerned, and it will seal off and heal over. And yes I would think if you have rose suckers you have a grafted rose, rather than one on its own rootstock and the suckers are coming from the graft. Which you do not want.

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