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kevingalaxy

HELp, how to control locusts tree shoots??

kevingalaxy
13 years ago

Hi all,

I have one locust tree left in the front yard, (We cut down two) but now i seem to have small locust trees sprouting up all over my lawn and the neighbors lawn. everyday i pull them out but i cant keep up!

Are they growing from the old root system or last years dropped seeds? How can i stop them/kill the shoots?!

Thanks all.

Comments (10)

  • Toronado3800 Zone 6 St Louis
    13 years ago

    My neighbor saved one of his suckers and started growing it into a tree actually.

    In the flower bed you might have to pick/clip them. Can you just mow over them in the yard?

  • poaky1
    13 years ago

    If they are suckers, you can buy a product called sucker stopper RTU, the RTU means ready to use (no mixing). I bought it online but don't remember where, it was approx $25.00 a spray bottle.

  • cdsetx8
    13 years ago

    We have a honeylocust in the front yard and I have volunteers from seeds every year in the lawn. Simply mowing them takes care of them. BTW we also have an old honeylocust in our wooded area with the long thorns all over the trunk. Its fascinating to see up close.

  • Embothrium
    13 years ago

    But not too close.

  • cdsetx8
    13 years ago

    LOL! You're right about that bboy. Those thorns are impressive.

  • kevingalaxy
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Thanks all, ive been mowing over them every week sometimes twice a week and also cutting them down when i come from work - very annoying, hopefully they will get the message, they just grow so fast!

  • Steve Gatey
    7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    ive been at it for 6 long years. Still trying to kill the suckers. Tried RTU Tordon on the old stump, drilled holes, poured it in, tried Tordon painted on to each cut sucker stem, still coming back. Anyone have any ideas? Still have a bunch of suckers coming up, im tempted to let them get bigger then cut and hit the cut stems with roundup concentrate this time?!... help!

  • Toronado3800 Zone 6 St Louis
    7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    If they were limited to my yard where I could mow over them I am not sure if I'd bother with herbicide. MAYBE if I was bored and had some miced AND a way to keep it off or out of the grass.

    FWIW, I like Round Up. It doesn't linger. Most others I just am not that familiar with. Honestly I don't know if anyone is.

    If you have a monoculture of one kind of grass and no trees its easier at least. Once I wrote some company or other asking if I think it was a sedge grass killer was safe for use around Metasequoia or at least Taxodium. Their answer was essentially "let us know, we don't."

  • kitasei
    7 years ago

    I have black locusts and love them. Beautiful in flower in the spring, carpeting the ground with delicate petals like cherry blossoms. Majestic trunks, gothic branching way up in the sky, autumn leaves that need no raking. What other tree has such massive, stately trunks without hogging either sun or water below? When they do fall, they are a gift of the best burning wood (or posts, even in water!). The big pieces of bark makes great pavers for paths. i love these trees so much I even love the suckers and seedlings. The seedlings lift out so surgically - so satisfying to pull! The suckers are occasionally tough, I admit, but those just get clipped. Each time I know it's a tempting option to let it grow, and take comfort that there will be more.

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