The Monday Garden, January 23, 2005, Issue 148 (revised October 2, 2005)
Eco-gardening at its best
You came across a tree with long palm-like tropical leaves. What is it? In New England, it is mostly likely to be ailanthus, sumac, walnut or ash. Ailanthus (Ailanthus altissima), the Tree of Heaven, Asia, and Brooklyn is often considered by naturalists and homeowners alike to be a menace to society with little redeeming value for wildlife. In contrast, smooth sumac (Rhus glabra) and staghorn sumac (Rhus tyhina) are great native Americans, as useful to humans as to our smaller residents. The black walnut (Juglans nigra), another great American, is cultivated in the wild by squirrels who adore these tall, graceful hardwoods, perhaps even more than humans do. The ailanthus is from the Quassia family of tropical plants, the sumacs are cashew family, and the black walnut comes from the walnut family which includes hickories and pecans. Our wonderful native ash trees are olive family members so can be distinguished from the others by the oppositely arranged branches and leaf stalks.
Picture: In the Hoyt Street Alley, young ailanthus (Ailanthus altissima) leaf out in front of the alley’s resident wild crabapple and shaggy bark hickory. Note the bright red-orange color of the new leaves; the greenness of the young trunks and the polka-dot pattern of the lenticels (pores). Stamford CT 2004
The ailanthus, sumacs, ashes, and black walnut come from totally different families and backgrounds, but can you tell them apart? All have long, palm-like compound leaves but there are major differences in flower, fruit, bark, bud, and leaf shape. This article covers the ailanthus and the sumacs. The black walnut is the subject of Issue 149 (January 30, 2005). Some of the ash trees are pictured in Issue 138 (November 14, 2004)
AILANTHUS: Graceful, tropical-looking ailanthus is the tree that grows in Brooklyn, and just about everywhere else (including Africa and Australia). It is as much a part of the urban landscape as the Norway rat, the cockroach, and the feral cat. Ailanthus was featured in "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" where this arboreal immigrant’s determination to survive and flourish despite all odds gave inspiration to immigrants of the human species. In Brooklyn, I once saw a ghostly ailanthus sapling growing out of the dirt floor in a lightless sub-basement. Ailanthus saplings waving from roof gutters and fire escapes are common inner-city sights.
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pictures: mature ailanthus at Stamford Cove Island. Summer and fall 2003; January 2005.
As a long-time Brooklyn resident, I have a unreasonable fondness for my old neighbor, the "Tree of Heaven", as it is known in its native China. In China, the mature trees are valued as ornamentals; and the tree is used for lumber, firewood, medicine, and silkworm farming. (The wood, by the way, is similar to ash in look and quality, and actually is quite useful.) Conversely, in Virginia, where it threatens new forests, ailanthus is known, appropriately, I think, as “stink-tree”.
Unfortunately, like many back-alley denizens, ailanthus is “armed and dangerous”. Ailanthus uses its wind- and water-borne winged seeds (“samaras”) to spread into surrounding neighborhoods. Once it gets established, it spreads into a grove by means of underground shoots. Ailanthus is a proven alleopath; it uses chemical warfare to control its turf. The chemicals it makes can ward off at least 70 other species that could compete with it for space.
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pictures: new ailanthus seeds at Cove Island are very red; the older ones on Stamford’s 3rd Street have faded to tan –gold. View detail of ailanthus seed.
picture: Tropical looking ailanthus “under-planted” with mugwort Cove Island Summer 2003
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pictures: ailanthus’ up-swept branches Cove Island, Hoyt Street Alley and Cove Island, Winter 2004-05; Morgan Street Summer 2004
Ailanthus, however, can not tolerate deep shade, so despite its chemical armaments, it can’t compete under the thick forest canopy. Instead, ailanthus tends to grow in the sub/urban environment where few trees can compete with ailanthus for ability to withstand urban pollution. Ailanthus can also out-compete native trees when the forest canopy has been disturbed by logging or fire, and it can gain a foot-hold at the forest’s edge by out-competing and poisoning other “pioneer” and edge-of-forest plants. According to the US Forest Service, in China, ailanthus only grows “in a densely populated area of China where no wild lands are left.” Chilling thought.
picture: short, stubby curved branches of a mature ailanthus; the feathery structures are last year’s flower stalks. Hoyt Street Alley, January 2005
Ailanthus was first imported into North America, they say, in the 1700's, and was widely planted in cities (on purpose!) because it was pollution-hardy. Today, ailanthus is found in this hemisphere, in Zones 4 to 8, from Argentina to Canada. In the USA, it is found everywhere except the really cold places such as Alaska, Idaho, the Dakotas, and Minnesota. Ailanthus is useful for ground stabilization in pollution-prone industrial sites but I doubt anyone has to take the time to plant it.
Ailanthus is a fast, fast growing tree that lives only 25 to 50 years but it can get very large - 60 to 100 feet--in that time. While the individual trees aren’t that long lived for trees, the ailanthus groves can sustain themselves for hundreds of years.
Most American wildlife hasn’t much use for the foreign-born ailanthus. Even white tail deer and grey squirrels aren’t partial to it. A couple of bugs of Asian origin, such as Japanese beetles, munch on it (and presumably provide some value to the ecology when the bugs are then munched in turn by birds and small animals). Honeybees (a European import themselves), though, do relish the pollen which makes quality honey after it has been aged.
Ailanthus is weedy and aggressive; it should be controlled for the sake of the environment. In particular, the female plants which send out the seeds should be kept cut to the ground. Further, the trees are not desirable around human dwellings. Larger trees can be a winter/wind hazard and the water-seeking roots have been known to interfere with sewer lines and wells. The roots are also said to give water an unpleasant taste. The males flowers have a strong odor often considered disagreeable (hence the name “stink-tree”). Ailanthus sap can cause dermatitis and the tree is a 9 out of 10 on the bad-for-allergies scale.
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pictures: vertical striped grey- clay colored bark of a young ailanthus, detail of same, Morgan Street, Stamford CT, Winter 1004-05
However, there’s good in all of us, and the USA Forest Service reports that “pharmacological research is focusing on possible use of ailanthus extracts for treating cancer, malaria, and HIV-1 infection.
THE SUMACS: Graceful, colorful, smooth sumac and staghorn sumac are valued in North America and Europe as beautiful ornamentals that also provide winter survival food for wildlife. They are an important source of food for many wild ones including skunks, songbirds, grouse, deer, and rabbits.
Smooth sumac (Rhus glabra) and staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina) look pretty much alike except that the staghorn sumac has the noticeably hairy leaf stalks and fruit; the staghorn’s winter twigs can looks so furry that they resemble velvet-covered deer antlers, hence the name. The smooth sumac was so named because it doesn’t have the hairs.
Red-berried smooth sumac and staghorn sumac are in the same family, but are otherwise not closely related to, the dangerous white-berried poison sumac (Toxicodendron vernix)(a close relative of poison ivy). For more information about poison sumac, and awesome pictures, go to www.ontariotrees.com, the site of my friend and colleague, Walter Muma.
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pictures: smooth sumac (Rhus glabra) in the wind at Cove Island (note the light color to the underside of the leaves); in flower at Scalzi Park; and in the fall at Cove Island. All: Stamford CT 2003.
Like the wild critters, humans have found many uses for the smooth and staghorn sumacs. The red, dry sumac berries (called “drupes”) are so high in tannin that they can be used for tanning. Native Americas made a lemonade-like drink from them. The European colonists reportedly used sumacs to make ink. The branches are easy to hollow out and useful as temporary pipes, kids’ toys, handicrafts, and the like.
Smooth sumac is found throughout southern Canadian and throughout the USA as far south as Arizona, Florida and Mississippi. Staghorn sumac ranges throughout eastern North America, from southern Canada to Georgia. These sumacs are hardy in Zones 4 to 8, just like ailanthus. Also like ailanthus, these two sumac is a “pioneer” and an edge-of-forest plants. The sumac seeds are carried between locations by the wild critters which eat the seeds, rather than by wind like the ailanthus. But like ailanthus, once established, the sumacs spread into a grove by means of root suckers. Smooth sumac and staghorn sumac like rocky, sunny, dry hill sides and banks with a neutral or high PH (limestone) content. The sumacs, however, are said to tolerate any soil except soggy-wet. Ailanthus isn’t particular about soil conditions, so it does both wet and dry, acid and limey. However, staghorn sumac can probably survive in soil that is more alkaline than ailanthus can tolerate and, conversely, ailanthus’s range extends farther into acidy soils and wet soils than the staghorn sumac can tolerate.
Smooth sumac and staghorn sumac are, like ailanthus, sun-seekers that can’t tolerate dense shade. While ailanthus does in the competition with chemical warfare, sumac uses shade. These two sumacs root-sucker into groves with such dense shade that few other plants can survive underneath. Ailanthus groves are also dense and shady. Both ailanthus and sumac groves are too shady for their own young to survive.
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picture: staghorn sumac (Rhus tyhina) fruit; note the downy leaf and flower stalks View detail of staghorn sumac; at the left is a similar view of smooth sumac.
picture: trunks of young ailanthus mixed with young smooth sumac on Bedford Street in Stamford CT January 2005. The smooth sumac trunks are a dusty red-purple; the ailanthus are greenish, gray, and orange-brown.
IDENTIFICATION: Smooth sumac, staghorn sumac and ailanthus not only have several similar physical characteristics, they tend to grow in similar places. It’s very important to be able to tell the trash (ailanthus) from the treasure (staghorn and smooth sumac) when deciding which plants to destroy. While ailanthus and sumac have many similarities, if you look closely there are also differences.
Height: Smooth sumac seldom grows higher than 10 feet in the north; staghorn sumac can be a bit taller – up to 25’ in the north. So you can count on the really tall ones (up to 80 feet), being ailanthus.
Form: Both ailanthus and the two sumacs have slender, straight trunks, and upward curving branches with blunt ends. The staghorn sumac’s branches and leaf stalks have a velvet coating like deer antlers in winter, hence the name. Ailanthus branches come in whorled tiers; the sumacs have a few stout, more crooked branches, unusually arising at a “Y” angle. Mature ailanthus have rounded crowns; the sumac groves are flat-topped.
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pictures: to the left is the lenticel pattern of a young smooth sumac; center shows the smooth sumac’s bud and dusty reddish bark; on the right is a young ailanthus – note the light colored lenticels and the smile-shaped leaf scars.
Bark-saplings: The young trunks on both plants have smooth bark dotted with lenticels (pores); the lenticels of the ailanthus are light colored and so pronounced as to give the trunk a polka-dot appearance. The sumac’s lenticels match the bark color. The young ailanthus bark is a grayish clay color or a bit orangey. The young sumac’s bark has a whitish bloom over a light colored, thin, smooth bark with purple undertones.
Bark- mature plants: The bark on “teenage” ailanthus has a diamond pattern sometimes compared to a cantaloupe’s skin; older ailanthus become craggier and have a vertical pattern. The smooth sumac’s bark develops horizontal streaks with age and darkens but remains smooth, and is sometimes scaly or peeling.
Leaves: Ailanthus and the two sumacs have alternate, compound leaves that are 1 to 3 feet long with 9 to 29 leaflets. The 3” to 5” leaflets are odd in number – arranged in opposing pairs along the leaf stalk with a single terminal leaf. The ailanthus, though, has smooth-edged leaves, often with a single lobe at the bottom; staghorn sumac leaves are toothed. Also, look closely, the ailanthus leaflets are not quite opposite. All three plants, though, have leaf stalks that alternate on the branches. (This distinguishes the ailanthus, nuts, and sumac from the ashes that have leaf stalks arranged opposite each other.)
Fall color: Ailanthus turns yellow and tan in the fall; the two sumac turn red, sometimes almost pink, ranging into purples and oranges.
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picture: left is a smooth sumac; center and right are ailanthus twigs in winter. Note the sumac’s new buds are in the center of the scar from last years, leaf; the ailanthus buds are at the top of the old leaf scar.
Flowers and fruit: Ailanthus and sumac have completely different fruit. Both have greenish flowers at the branch tips. The ailanthus flowers come in whitish-green foamy plumes. As mentioned, the male flowers stink. The sumac flowers come in tight lime-green pyramids. Ailanthus flowers mature, on the female plants only, into gold clusters of twisty winged seeds (“samras”) tinged with rust (aging to light tan); the female sumacs have fuzzy berries (“drupes”) that age from lime-green to deep red. The staghorn sumac’s drupes are more hairy than those of the smooth sumac.
Leave scars and buds: Believe it or not, comparing the leaf scars and buds points out the most interesting difference between these trees and a few others. Ailanthus leaf scars are smile- or shield-shaped with the new bud at the top of the scar; sumac leaf scars are closer to heart-shaped and, amazingly, the new bud is right in the center of the old scar! The sumac buds are usually hairy if you look closely enough.
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pictures: left is the terminal leaf of a smooth sumac; to the right is the same for an ailanthus. Note that both smooth and staghorn sumac have toothed leaflets, but the ailanthus has a smooth-edged leaflet that often has a single lobe at the bottom edge.
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pictures: left and center smooth sumac; at right is ailanthus.
Note: this article updates and replaces Issue 86 (November 16, 2003)
picture: detail of emerging ailanthus foliage spring 2004.
Photo credits: Sue Sweeney
© Sue Sweeney 2005
Comments (23)
Excellent article. You've captured much about the Ailanthus. One point I would add is that when cut, the tree will send out suckers from its roots, so that efforts to kill one tree often end up producing five or six. I lead a team trying to eradicate Ailanthus in a national park, and it's damn hard to kill.
Posted by Ben | February 16, 2005 4:15 PM
Posted on February 16, 2005 16:15
Love the pictures!
Posted by Marjorie | June 10, 2005 6:34 PM
Posted on June 10, 2005 18:34
Wish I would've found this site sooner! We cut down a very large ailanthus in our yard early this spring and didn't treat the stump. Needless to say, that stump has produced at least 100 sucklings throughout our property! I pull and pull to no avail. Chemical control is our next step. Wish me luck!
Posted by Linda | August 13, 2005 9:36 AM
Posted on August 13, 2005 09:36
Linda -- I do wish you luck but please rethink the chemical solution, unless it's the very controlled "cut and paint" method. Here's something that came in my email today:
NEW STUDIES: MONSANTO'S BEST SELLING "SAFE" PESTICIDE IS HIGHLY TOXIC
Two new peer-reviewed scientific studies have further confirmed the
toxicity of glyphosate, the world's most commonly used herbicide.
The June 2005 scientific journal "Environmental Health Perspectives"
reports that glyphosate, sold by Monsanto under the brand
name "Roundup," damages human placental cells at exposure levels ten
times less than what the company claims is safe. A study in the
August journal Ecological Applications found that even when applied
at concentrations that are one-third of the maximum concentrations
typically found in waterways, Roundup still killed up to 71 percent
of tadpoles in the study. Similar glyphosate studies around the
world have been equally alarming. The American Academy of Family
Physicians epidemiological research has now linked exposure to the
herbicide with increased risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a life-
threatening cancer, while a Canadian study has linked glyphosate
exposure with increased risk for miscarriage. A 2002 study linked
glyphosate exposure with increased incidence of attention deficit
disorder in children. Despite these studies, Monsanto continues to
advertise Roundup, sprayed heavily on 140 million acres of
genetically engineered crops across the world, as one of
the "safest" pesticides on the market. Learn more & take action:
http://www.organicconsumers.org/monlink.html
The truth is that we don't know how safe any of the chemicals are. There's no economic way to test them, particularly in combination with everything else in the environment. When you or I use them, we are releasing potential evil into the world,so we need to be very, very careful about what we're doing.
I suggest mowing or black plastic for your hundred little ones.
Sue
Posted by S. W. Sweeney | August 20, 2005 11:15 AM
Posted on August 20, 2005 11:15
I also have hundreds coming up in my small back yard! Any suggestions on how to get rid of and/or radically control will be appreciated!
jen
Posted by jen | October 11, 2005 7:52 PM
Posted on October 11, 2005 19:52
HI,
I am working for a tree cutting service, so to speak, and a client asked how we could get rid of the "staghorn sumac" often called the "velvet sumac", or "tiger eyes" in the typhina species. any how i did come across one home recipe that called for
1 cup salt
8 drops liquid deturgent
1 gal vinegar,
My question is do you think this will work. further more, nothing is going to grow where we treat, but i don't want to do permanant damage to the soil any how. is this a good method??
Posted by Jims HelP | January 24, 2006 10:35 PM
Posted on January 24, 2006 22:35
Don't know. Worth a try. Vinegar is very acid so it works well to kill the leaves it touches but trials I've seen, it doesn't get down into the roots; salt, of course, would.
What are you going to do with the solution? Apply to leaves? cut stems? If it works, please post a comment.
Next best, I guess, would be to hand-pull the patch starting form the suckers at the edge.
It's a shame that the client doesn't see the value of the sumac - it's such a lovely plant. Any way to change his/her mind?
thank you for not even thinking about using herbicides.
Sue
Posted by S. W. Sweeney | January 25, 2006 9:03 AM
Posted on January 25, 2006 09:03
If I remember correctly from some survivors of local populations of Ailanthus planted as landscape that I saw 40 years ago, the trunks of mature specimens, c. 18"-30" diameter, are black.
The pictured "young" shoots are regrowth from well established trees that have been cut back (probably every year or so). The young shoots of new seedlings are much smaller, less than the diameter of a pencil.
The roots do die eventually. In about 1970 the local streed department cut down one which had been grown as a street tree in front of the house next to my Dad's office. Dozens of suckers appeared in the yard over the next three years, but by 1980 they were entirely gone. It is much better to put on your gloves and try to pull the suckers up than it is to cut them back because thebudded part of the root will often come up with the shoot if you pull, but the cut shoot will just about always sprout fresh growth.
Posted by JonathanJustice | April 24, 2006 3:59 AM
Posted on April 24, 2006 03:59
This article is very interesting.
The property where we built my house used to be covered in a staghorn grove but it was devestated by a buckthorn infestation about 10 years back. Now we only have one 15 foot surviver but since we (hopefully) have eradicated the buckthorn, it's been sending little shoots up everywhere.
Here's my question:
I'd like to use these shoots in another part of my yard if I can. But I was wondering if cutting them off from their parent tree is a bad idea. I don't want to damage them if I can help it. Any suggestions?
Posted by Lily | June 8, 2006 5:16 PM
Posted on June 8, 2006 17:16
Lily -- you should be able to start a new sumac grove from root suckers. I haven't tried this myself but if I was going to do it, I'd try a few different methods to see what worked best. In all cases, select suckers that look big enough to support themselves but small enough to move easily.
One method: just dig one or two up and move them, but do it early enough in the season so that their roots can get established before the heat. You're already late, so if you don't want to wait until fall, make sure to regularly water the transplanted suckers. Most sources just say to dig the suckers up, saving as much root as possible, so I suspect the plant moves fairly easily without a lot of babying.
Second method: take a shape shovel and severe the connection between parent and the selected sucker, about a foot or so from the child. Then leave the sucker in place until fall so it has a good chance to get established on its own; then dig up and move, taking as much root and original soil as possible.
Third method: from http://www.macphailwoods.org/shrub/ssumac.html: Dig up small shoots early in the spring before the leaves have formed. It is best to move young sumac to a nursery bed. Water well and keep the bed mulched. After a year or two, they can be transplanted out to the final site.
Which ever method you use, like all baby trees, they'll need extra water for their first two years.
Good luck
Sue
Posted by S. W. Sweeney | June 11, 2006 11:59 AM
Posted on June 11, 2006 11:59
How do you make vinegar out of sumac trees? Is it safe? We have a lot of these tress in the lower Laurentians, And it would be nice if they can used.
Posted by terry | June 12, 2006 11:09 PM
Posted on June 12, 2006 23:09
Terry -- from I what I can see, the berries are used to flavor vinegar, lemonade, and the like. There are recipes if you search for "sumac+ recipes".
Hope this helps
Sue.
PS Don't forget to leave some for the birds!
Posted by S. W. Sweeney | June 13, 2006 9:44 AM
Posted on June 13, 2006 09:44
I have what I thought was a staghorn sumac in my garden,( I dug it up around several other sumacs) in Michigan but it never turns brilliant red or orange in the fall and my plumes are white, never turning red. I'd like to take pictures and have somebody identify this for me. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks Lee Ann
Posted by Lee Ann Coleman | June 20, 2006 1:47 PM
Posted on June 20, 2006 13:47
Is there any update on whether the vinegar/salt/detergent solution worked to control the staghorn sumac? We unwittingly planted a sucker (which grew into a beautiful 12' tree) and now our entire garden is sprouting with them! Any other suggestions for how to eradicate this plant would be appreciated. We tried removing the main tree, but that seemed to encourage even more suckers. Thanks very much. Janet
Posted by J.Taylor | June 29, 2006 1:26 PM
Posted on June 29, 2006 13:26
Is there any way you can prevent the suckers of a staghorn sumac from establishing themselves i.e.cutting them out when they first appear? any suggestions.My tree is a young one and planted in a lawn.
Posted by terry | June 30, 2006 3:46 AM
Posted on June 30, 2006 03:46
I just cut down a series of sumac because I was told their roots would dig up under the foundation of my cottage. A)is this true? B)if yes, how can I prevent the trees/suckers from re-growing? and C)if it is necessary to kill the plants off, and I am successful in doing so, what other shrubs/small trees with deep root systems would work in sandy, sunny (full south facing) soil very close to a home? I have about three feet of space between the cottage and the road and the area needs some shade to lower energy costs and protect the home.
Lots of questions -- thanks for you help!
Amanda
Posted by amandawhisner | July 4, 2006 7:08 PM
Posted on July 4, 2006 19:08
Amanda -- sorry, I can't advise on the affect of roots on architectural structures.
However, as a means of approach, I'd start by double checking whether sumac is such an issue. Then, I'd want to figure out if any suitable tree would be a lesser potential problem than the sumac before completely eradicating the sumac. I'd also look into root barriers.
Hope this helps
Sue
Posted by S. W. Sweeney | July 24, 2006 3:17 PM
Posted on July 24, 2006 15:17
Terry -- You can, as you suggest, cut each one as it pops up or you can use a root barrier. Also, in the lawn, the lawn mover will keep the unwanted little ones from growing.
Sue
05:09 AM 7/3/2006, you wrote:
Thanks for replying so quickly sue, sorry to be a nuisance but what exactly is a root barrier? should i have used one when i first planted the tree?
Terry --
oops -- I should have explained that. A root barrier is the flexible sheet made of metal or plastic that you sink down into the ground around a plant to keep its roots from expanding too far.
You can pick them up at your local plant nursery or hardware store. Just ask for it by name and they should know what it is.
Then take the shovel, dig a trench around the plant down the required distance, inset barrier and re-fill trench.
They are useful with any plant likely to spread dramatically by root sucking. For example, you generally have to have one for outdoor bamboo unless you have a body of water or paved driveway to stop its progress.
Unless you get a very deep one (e.g 12' to 18") you could still get a few roots coming through. But 12" is a lot of digging so people are more likely to get 4" to 8" and still pull a few suckers.
Sue
Posted by S. W. Sweeney | July 24, 2006 3:18 PM
Posted on July 24, 2006 15:18
Janet --
I personally don't have much experience with the vinegar/salt/detergent solutions but what I've seen is that these acidy home remedies just annoy the plant by killing leaves; if you use enough salt to poison the soil that's, long-term, not such a great solution to anything.
Your observation is correct that by cutting down the main tree, all underground energy is now going into suckers. Hardy these great American natives!
My suggestion: put down a 6" to 12" root barrier around the main tree-- it'll grow back -- no reason to not have its beauty and I'm sure the birds miss it.
Then, as to the suckers outside the barrier: start with the smallest ones farthest from the barrier and work inward. Hand pull as you go, trying to get all the root. If you "manage from the edge of the patch", as I learned in Master Gardener school, you'll be surprised at how quickly the whole mess gets beaten back. It's like untangling string -- you have to work from the edge.
It will take a couple of treatments to get all the suckers and the best thing to do is the keep after them so they doesn't get out of hand again. Where I have problems like this, I give the undesired patch a swipe or two every time I pass by so it doesn't become a day-defining chore but, by the end of the season, the problem's gone.
Hope this helps
Sue
Posted by S. W. Sweeney | July 24, 2006 3:19 PM
Posted on July 24, 2006 15:19
I have a row of stag horns up my driveway and a few in the middle died. what is the best way to propagate them, I have several comming up from roots of other trees.
Posted by jim white | August 10, 2006 12:09 PM
Posted on August 10, 2006 12:09
Jim -- I haven't propagate sumac myself but the following advice from http://www.macphailwoods.org/shrub/ssumac.html looks good to me:
"This is a very difficult shrub to grow from seed, but fortunately it spreads prolifically from root suckers. Most people who have these shrubs growing on their lawn will let you have some young plants. Dig up small shoots early in the spring before the leaves have formed. It is best to move young sumac to a nursery bed. Water well and keep the bed mulched. After a year or two, they can be transplanted out to the final site. Cuttings can be made in the late fall, from roots or stems, but we have not attempted this yet. If you are trying sumac from seed, collect cones when crimson, separate individual berries and plant closely, about 100 to 200/square foot (.09 sq. m). The seed coat is very hard and may take many years to break down."
The difficulty in gowning from seed, I suspect, is due to the plant evolving so that the seed normal passes through a bird gut before sprouting.
Hope this helps
Sue
Posted by Susan Sweeney | August 10, 2006 5:46 PM
Posted on August 10, 2006 17:46
I have lots of little suckers in my garden in Ireland and they are annoying me. I cut the tree last year and the energy is pushing up 100's of suckers. I just want to eradicate them, I need help, mowing them doesnt work as they grow faster than the grass. Pulling them doesnt work as you dont get the root, they are so soft and break. They get stronger as you pull them or mow them
Help!!!!!!!!!
Posted by Michael | August 12, 2006 4:18 PM
Posted on August 12, 2006 16:18
Michael -- take a look at this article for most of the known anti-invasive techniques. http://www.inmygarden.org/archives/2005/04/invasive_plants.html Generally, and with your specific issue, I think a multi-faceted approach will work much better than any single technique.
For your particular issue, the first thing I'd do is sink a root barrier about 2 feet from the stump to confine new suckers. (Root barriers can be bought from your local garden supply). Then I'd work from the outside of the sucker patch inward toward the barrier, repeatedly eradicating the stray suckers outside the barrier. I'd try different techniques, including digging, with the goal of pushing back the edge just a bit each time.
I'd also continue mowing the suckers inside and outside the barrier weekly.
Also, ailanthus has two weaknesses that you can exploit: it doesn't like shade and it's not very drought -hardy. You could stop watering that part of the lawn for the two months; the grass will go dominant but will come back better than the ailanthus. Also, if you don't mind autumn re-seeding of that part of the lawn, you could also put down a black plastic tarp and fry the suckers.
Hope this helps
Sue
Posted by Susan Sweeney | August 13, 2006 11:48 AM
Posted on August 13, 2006 11:48