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Aspen Warning!

Shoz
9 years ago

About 4 years ago I fell in love with aspen trees and I read they may have a few problems. Being experienced with trees I was a bit arrogant and ignored the potential problems. Thus, I purchased 3 Prairie Gold Aspens from a local nursery. They grew fast and looked great. That is until about year 3. Two major problems...first of all, these trees grew super fast, but they would not root down deeply. It was like a parachute when the wind would blow. I staked and re-staked constantly but they all three had terrible stability. The second major problem was the suckering. The roots were very shallow and long and they threw sucker after sucker. I knew this going in but I bought some SuckerStopper from the same nursery that sold the trees. They said it would keep the suckers under control and discourage the roots from suckering. Not so much.
The trees are now gone. Had to cut them down, but I am still dealing with suckers. I have no idea how long that will last and it pains me to admit that I've resorted to using Roundup to kill them. Point of this post being please don't be tempted to put aspen in urban landscape settings. The warnings you've likely heard about aspen are true and then some. I've completely been humbled by this gardening experience and will likely heed the advice of the experts in my plant selection from now on.

Comments (14)

  • Toronado3800 Zone 6 St Louis
    9 years ago

    Thanks for the review. How far away from the base of the tree are your suckers pooping up?

    If my trees near my flower beds sucker that could be annoying. Sometimes in MY arrogance maybe I figure out in the middle of the yard they would just get mowed over.

  • lkz5ia
    9 years ago

    I thought one of the pros was the suckering, now I will get a grove of aspens while only planting a few.

  • Shoz
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    I guess the suckering could be a good thing if you wanted a grove of aspens, but again, in the urban landscape it is often not a desirable thing to have suckers popping up in neighbor's yards.
    The suckers are anywhere from a few feet to 20 feet away from the original planting hole.
    It is now close to 3 months after I have cut them down and I am still dealing with the occasional sucker. I check every few days and still have a couple to deal with. It has significantly slowed down though, but that is after using almost a full sprayer of Roundup on them in the past 3 months.

  • Toronado3800 Zone 6 St Louis
    9 years ago

    I hear you. The odd Rhus typhina 'tiger eyes' was one of the few things I planted which grew well but ai removed. Thin leggy growth and suckers were too much for me. It sure was eye catching though.

  • zone4newby
    9 years ago

    I recently read that an aspen grove is actually a single individual. Trying to grow a single aspen tree is working against the nature of the plant. I agree that aspens need more space than most urban lots would allow.

  • ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
    9 years ago

    it pains me to admit that I've resorted to using Roundup to kill them.

    ==>> why??? .... its the only way to kill these types of trees...

    use it 100% in the very expensive applicator at the link ...

    snip the sucker.. drip on RU or generic ...

    keep doing it until you kill the roots mass..

    try not to let leaves remain for any amount of time..so they dont feed the roots ...

    no pain.. no gain ..

    ken

    ps: if you had asked first.. we would have told you.. you need a lot of property for an aspen grove ... and that fast to grow trees... are fast to have problems.. fast to bugs and disease.. and fast to death ... who knew.. it would be you .. lol ... [its one of those trees the are for parks.. golf courses.. and ANYONE ELSE'S BACKYARD... lol ..]

    Here is a link that might be useful: link

  • corkball
    9 years ago

    I had some mature 50' white poplar I had cut down. They suckered like crazy. I mowed the suckers for about 3 years, and then they finally stopped.

  • salicaceae
    9 years ago

    This is like saying, "Beware, bamboo will spread"! Of course aspens will sucker, thats what they do. This can be managed if they are given room and it is planned for. Some don't sucker in lawn settings if the roots aren't damaged.

  • Konrad___far_north
    9 years ago

    I'm glad you got rid of them.
    My neighbor put some in years ago,..root suckers came up everywhere, including into my greenhouse!
    Trees are gone now and the stalks were treated with something, it worked.
    I knew for a long time that all aspen on earth are tied together. Don't plant any in your yard!

  • wisconsitom
    9 years ago

    Exactly this^. Let's not damn the plant because we try and use it inappropriately. In cut-over, burned-over forest land, aspen are absolutely key to getting that land back into (forest) production. Them, along with paper birch, are the main colonizers of landscapes here in the Great Lakes forest states. We'd be hurting without the amazing resilience of this genus.

    In a yard setting-not so much!

    +oM

  • dbarron
    9 years ago

    Yep, the stellar qualities of colonization aren't usually appreciated in a home landscape (I do..but even I choose my battles).

  • HU-896964750
    last year

    Suckers aren't a problem if you mow them off. I love mine as they are strong, hardy trees.

  • HU-808959915
    5 months ago

    I planted the Prairie Gold 7 years ago and haven’t had any issues with suckers. It’s planted amongst Legacy Sugar Maples and Serban Spruce, and has been well behaved and provides outstanding fall color. Perhaps you planted Quaking Aspen and didnt receive the Prairie Gold? Ive been very impressed with this variety here in the midwest, just make sure you‘re purchasing from a repuat and trusted source so that you are actually acquiring the true variety.