How do you get rid of Root suckers on an oak tree?

Question

I’ve cut  and cut hundreds of them but they keep coming back. I heard, the more you kill the root suckers, it tells the tree to make more. This tree is my only tree in the front yard. I did see something called “Sucker Stopper”. . . . but I haven’t tried it. It’s $28/spray bottle.
Do you know of something I can plant to keep these root suckers from emerging to the top? One neighbor planted “Widela”. Supposedly, it is fast growing with runners and blooms a yellow flower.

Answer 1

Trees tend to sucker when they are under stress. Lack of water is the most common reason for this, but there can be others. Some trees, like grafted trees, are always under a little stress and will always put out some suckers. You can reduce the number of suckers a tree puts out be removing stress from the tree. Make sure it is well watered and fed and that there are no pests affecting the tree.