02-10-2005, 04:11 PM
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wrote:
This tree is a magnificent oak that's well over 80 years old. It's hard
to say how high but I would guess it's well over 30 feet tall.
It's very healthy but this year, I have noticed that on the lower
brances -- which are about 10 feet off the ground -- there are about a
half dozen suckers. Right now, they are clusters of leaves.
Should I remove them?
You can trim an oak for looks if you like. If the leaf clusters do
develop into branches, it's quite possible that some will die later on,
depending on availability of light, etc. The leaf clusters started up
because of sufficient light, water, and nutreients in the soil. Most
trees will develop such adventitious growth on branches and trunks when
the conditions are right.
Actually, short of poison, it's hard to kill an oak. I cut down a 15
year old 8ft high "sapling" that had never grown much on acount of heavy
shade, and for the next four or five years, new growth started from the
roots every spring, and regrew a few times during the summer when I
mowed over it. I gave the trunk (nice and straight) to my brother to
make a walking stick - he said it was too heavy, because of the dense
wood. It was 1-3/4" thick. It made a good quarter staff, though. :-)
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