Lime tree suckers

Hello, could anybody tell me if there's any way of controlling the suckering growth around the bottom of a mature lime's trunk? At the moment it looks something similar to this:Lime Tree of the Motte (in Bodegne) VERLAINE picture

It's previously just been hacked back with a hedge trimmer ( which I realise probably exacerbates the problem ) but was wondering if there is a more long term solution.

Thanks,
Iain

 

There is an avenue of limes here in Maidstone.
I'm not sure the basal shoots can really be termed as suckers as they come from the base of the trunk.

But for years now the council have once a year cut them right back to the swollen base of the trees.
I think its a big problem with certain species of lime.

 

There is nothing you can do about that. Just have to spend a little extra time on the lime :D

 

Thanks anyway Pete and Hydrogen. I think next year I'll just do it with the strimmer every so often so it doesn't get so thick and woody.

 

So you're going to strim against the tree bark, possibly causing further injury to the tree, and spurring the tree into putting out more basal epicormic growth? Sounds like a flawed plan to me. You'd be better off using a hedgecutter/secateurs to 'gently' remove the unwanted growth without damaging the bark of the tree.

 

"Epicormic" Good word

 

That's some good ol' profeshnul terminologies! It just refers to latent buds beneath the bark that break dormancy and produce rapid-growing new shoots. Lime is prone to doing this, especially as a result of previous damage to the tree.

 

Looking on the bright side, these shoots are a wonderful source of free pea sticks.