I think nyssa just does this the year after transplant. I waited mine out then had to prune off the dead.

My bet is yours does fine next winter.

Here is a link where I was worried or asking about mine. It survived my -10F winter this year with flying colors. The first year in the ground it did not do so well.

Curious, mine is a fu fu grafted cultivar. Is yours a main species tree?

Here is a link that might be useful: http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/trees/msg05005631567.html

My Nyssa sucker like crazy. They've been in for about 15 years and every few years I go to war on the suckers and cut them out (they sucker along the roots like poplars). They have other redeeming qualities but the suckering is a pain.

Sara

Mine is the main species tree. There is no graft. Thanks for the link.

Good thing I only have one to control the suckers on. I had no idea suckering was a major issue. I guess every tree has its pros and cons.

Sorry double post...

This post was edited by thapranksta on Mon, May 12, 14 at 12:39

This is the third growing season for mine and I think I'm in the clear. No suckering! It's dealt with severe cold (for this area), lots of rain, and hot summers. It hasn't dealt with drought as of yet, thankfully. Just curious, but would mind sucker if it hasn't after 3 years in the ground?

My guess would be that it would still sucker from time to time as this seems to be the characteristic of the black gum from what I've read. You wouldn't have the aggressive suckers that are described in the link provided by toronado3800 . Those suckers are so aggressive because the original "body" of the tree has died and the tree is trying to mend itself and survive.

Our tree has been in the ground for 5-6 years and has not had any suckers at all. Had to heavily cut roots when planting, and took a couple years to fully recover, but has been growing nicely since. Seems to be a tree by tree basis, same with dieback on transplanting. Often no apparent reason for either.

Arktrees

I guess my assumption is wrong and I stand to be corrected after also reading what another member posted on a different thread concerning having multiple black gums and having only one sucker. :-) In either case unless they are very vigorous or high in number, I don't consider a sucker to be a very big deal. I just prune them off and the trees grow fine.