I Have Two Yoshino Cherry Trees That Are 10 Years…
Roy Asked
I have two Yoshino cherry trees that are 10 years old; I am having problems with the roots sprouting new growth. I have cut them off but they come right back and make the landscaping look bad. Do you have any suggestions on how to stop this?
The Gardener’s Answer
Hi, Roy: The growth coming up from the base of the plant is what is known as suckers. Like many other ornamental trees, Yoshino cherries are propagated by a method known as grafting. This means that the top of your tree is exactly what you think it is, a Yoshino cherry, but the root system of your tree is that of another Prunus. Growers do this for different reasons but mainly to give plants certain characteristics they would not have otherwise, such as being hardier and more disease-resistant. So, the suckers that keep sprouting are not something you want to allow to grow, so the easiest way to get rid of them is to prune them back. Usually as grafted plants mature they stop producing suckers so as the trees age you should see a decrease in the amount of suckers you will need to prune. Suckers tend to be more common if trees are planted too deep. There are no safe products that I know of to stop them from growing. Using any chemical will affect the rest of your tree, jeopardizing its health. You really are doing the best thing possible by just removing them. It does make the tree look unkept and it is an easy task in terms of maintenance so just keep your pruners sharp and hopefully in the following years the trees will stop suckering.
