unwanted shoots

I have woody shoots appearing in borders and the lawn, they appear singley and in clumps, and grow (if I let them to a few feet tall) Thaye have a serrated edged leaf, which doesn't appear to match any other shrubs or trees in the garden. When I pull them they are attached to what appear to be roots criss crossing the garden , help how can i get rid of them :(

hoping this works, the requested picture
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p143/suecopster/DSCN1914.jpg

[ 30. October 2006, 02:50 PM: Message edited by: sue copster ]

 

I had similar problem from an old cherry tree sending up suckers all over the place. It kept happening even after the tree had fallen down and was removed. A pic of the leaves would be useful to identify what you have.
The only thing you can do is mow them if they come up in the lawn and keep pulling them out of the borders.
You could use chemicals, but if they are suckers from a mature tree or shrub it would kill it too.
Maybe others would have more ideas for you.
Good luck.

 

Welcome to GC, Sue!
There are various other shrubs and trees that do this, like the sumach, http://images.google.co.uk/images?q=rhus+typhina&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi
and everyone's favourite lilac - but they are quite distinctive, and are generally pretty close to the original plant. If it was my garden, I'd be tempted to let one of them grow, if I could find one in a place I didn't mind it, and keep mowing down, digging out, etc all the others! After all, it might be something nice, and it's obviously thriving in your garden! :D

Agree with Blackthorn - if you'd like us to try to ID it for you, a picture would be useful!

 

My first thought was stags horn sumach - they can travel a long way. Or how long have you had that garden? i chopped down a sumach in my old garden and for the following few years I was having to mow and dig out suckers.

 

Like your avatar, Geoff! I didn't know they'd cay on after the original tree was gone - I've only ever dealt with the suckers when the tree was still there....

I love them, they're glorious at this time of year, but a blasted nuisance!

 

Hi Sue, how are you doing with posting the picture?

 

Hi
thanks for your help with the photo, added to original question, hope you can all access it

Sue

 

Now that looks exactly like the suckers I get from my greengage tree. Suckers are best dealt with by tearing off the root they are growing from - but I have yet to be able to do it - so just cut them off as deep as I can.

 

Yes Fran, does look like a member of the Prunus family, could also be plum as well.
Dendy, some suckers from our old cherry tree came up 2 years after the tree was gone. Seems like the roots stay active for quite a while.

 

:eek:

A dire warning to everyone to get ALL the roots out, when removing a plant.... :rolleyes:

 

I would say poison any stump. I remember chopping down a weeping willow tree in my first garden. It was 10 feet from the house and up to the roof height. I remember the original owners waxing lyrically about it. Little did they know what was going on in my wicked mind. A week after moving in I sawed the thing down, with an ordinary saw. Surprised the neighbours cause they used to indulge in topless sunbathing in the privacy it gave - unfortunately not while I was doing the evil deed.
Knowing the reputation for willow to shoot I decided I needed something pretty serious to kill the roots. I used SBK brushwood killer mixed with parafin ,I think, poured into holes drilled in the stump and sealed with plastocene. Killed it stone dead and not a single shoot.
I thought it had been banned but I think I saw it in my wholesaler the other week.
Very often you cannot take out the roots. In my present garden I have taken out 3 birches over 20 feet high and cypresses over 7 feet high. If you tried to take out all the roots you would be going to an early grave.
This winter its the turn of a 20 foot acer and a 25 foot varigated cypress.