Offshoots on cut off tree - remove or leave?

Hello all,

We have a stump of some tree on our garden. My husbands assumes it's an apple tree. This stump has grown several offshoots. I assume it's suckers?

My neighbour says that we should leave the offshoots (suckers) to grow, they'd revive the tree. Can this be? I read into it and found that suckers have to be cut off and planted individually if we wanted them to grow into trees.

I am unsure whether we should cut off those offshoots (suckers), or leave them be?

Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you!

 

I take it you actually want the tree then? Or, do you just want it because of the suckers and the chance to revive it?

No idea on which is the way to go with it, but I'm sure someone else will be along with the best advice

 

Well, I haven't quite made up my mind yet, because I don't really like the position of the tree, but my husband would like to keep it.

So advice for both options would be helpful. Thank you!

 

The ideal solution then would be for a sucker to be rooted so your husband gets the tree and you get to put it where you would like it
The only experience I have of suckering plants are a bay tree and a amelanchier and neither of those took at all. But, that may not be the case for your tree.

While you wait for someone with more experience, any chance you could upload a photo of the stump and suckers? Not only will that help members have a more accurate idea of which type of tree it is, but also how best to deal with your query

 

Hello "M",

I like your idea of him having his will but I will decide where the tree goes.. that's democracy.. in my world .

It's too dark outside now, but I will take a picture tomorrow. There is one here (6th picture in the gallery) but it's very small .

I will post a picture tomorrow afternoon once I'm in from work!

 

Trouble with sucker from apple trees is that most apples will have been grafted.

Not sure how low this tree has been cut off, but the chances are the shoots are coming from the rootstock, ie. below the graft.
So, its unlikely that you will get any apples worth growing, it really just depends on what you want the tree for?

Might be better digging it out and planting something new.

 

Hi Pete ,

My husband wanted to actually get a proper apple tree from it, i.e. a fruit-bearing one. I'd only do it from the shoots if it worked. Might be easier just to buy an apple tree.

The shoots come from very low, I think they're actually coming from the rootstock. Unfortunately I don't know how tall the tree was, it had already been cut off when we bought the place.

 

To be honest, rather than spending a few years growing the shoots on, with possible disappointment, I'd be inclined to buy a new tree

 

Thanks for the advice, Pete! I'll let him know and cut back those shoots as soon as I can.