out of control sumac

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pjo Harrison County, WV(Zone 6a) Jun 02, 2007

I'm new at landscaping and foolishly planted a Staghorn Sumac for the fall color. It's now spreading everywhere. Is there an easy way to deal with the runners and keep the tree?

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sarahn Milton, NH(Zone 5a) Jun 02, 2007

I'm interested, too. I'm not sure if the staghorn sumac is on my property or the business next door. As I'm interested in attracting birds, the two 15' sumac fed the local late winter/early spring woodland birds. I'm almost at peace with it, but I've been pulling out sucker roots & shoots from quite a distance in my lawn right up to my foundation. Can it be contained?

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WeeNel Ayrshire Scotland, United Kingdom Jun 03, 2007

Hi guy's, this tree is famous for the very problems you have, the best way to do it is, as soon as you see these sucker roots appearing, either dig down to below ground level and either cut them with a saw, or, if not, then tree branck loppers, burn or carefully dispose of the cut off roots as they can happily re grow, as for the roots heading towards your foundations, you have or will have a huge problem, as the foundations wont contain the roots, they will grow right into them, you will both have to keep a close eye on your drains and utilities as they too will become blocked/choked and damaged by these roots, they are on the rampage searching for any moisture they can find to grow into new trees, and once they have the light and moisture, then they are happy, they really are very attractive trees, but in the right location, they are trying to ban them here in UK for the reasons I have mentioned, but they are already on the rampage as people have not been aware of the problems and end up with several trees in the same area because of the suckers. hope I aint scareing the pants off you, but better act now before you have any further troubles. maybe you could take the time to dig and trim all the roots, you would need to do this on a regular timescale though.
Good luck, WeeNel.

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sarahn Milton, NH(Zone 5a) Jun 04, 2007

Thanks WeeNel. I'm sharpening my axe.

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pjo Harrison County, WV(Zone 6a) Jun 04, 2007

I'm going to try the dig and trim method and see if I can place an underground barrier around the trunk. Plan B - I'll join sarahn in axe sharpening.

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