regrowth (tree suckers)

Question

During an ice storm this winter, our 40 – 50 foot tree in our front yard snapped in half and we had to cut it down. There was no way to save it and, unfortunately, I don’t know what kind it was. My husband left a stump of approximately 5 feet (his intention was to have it professionally carved). Now that spring is here, we’ve noticed that there are approximately 9 new growths coming from the stump. They look like they will develop into tree suckers. Should we leave them to turn into branches or just get rid of the whole stump?

Answer 1

That’s up to you. If the tree flowered, or had especially beautiful fall foliage, or you liked it for its shade, you might want to regrow it. If you leave all the suckers, you will eventually have a more of a bush than a tree. If you select the largest sucker, and keep the rest cut off, the tree can regrow from that sucker. Or you might even have the stump carved, then keep the suckers around the bottom trimmed to form a hedge. Or you can kill all the suckers, do whatever with the stump, and/or plant a new tree if you want. Here’s some info on killing the suckers: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/trees/tgen/tree-sucker-removal-and-tree-sucker-control.htm