White Dogwood Has a Bunch of Small ‘Babies’ At the Bottom

Question

It’s springtime now and I have a healthy white dogwood, which has a bunch of ‘babies’ around the bottom. How can I separate these babies from the main tree or roots and replant them correctly? When is the best time to do this? Thank you!!

Answer 1

What you are seeing are suckers, or shoots. Trees will typically produce these suckers when in stress. It is usually better to remove the suckers so the tree can concentrate on putting its energy into itself rather than the suckers, which sap the energy from the tree. The suckers can be transplanted and have a good chance of surviving, but you need to make sure that they have some roots of their own when you move them.

You can simply dig up the suckers and pot them up in potting soil. Now would be a good time to do it. When you dig them up, make sure some of the roots come with the sucker. Keep them well watered and in the shade. When you see new leaf growth, they are ready to be transplanted into the ground.