On 2 Oct 2005 06:31:28 -0700, 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?
NO.

First, "sucker" is a misnomer. These interior branches do not suck
anything out of the tree (no net loss, at least). They grew there
because the tree was under stress and needed them (usually because the
previous stripping of the sprouts led to sunscald). They are taking
light and turning it into energy that the tree can use to carry out
its business and/or store away for future stresses.

Yes, the sprouts will often die before becoming significant branches.
Then it will be fine to remove them. No, you will not kill most trees
by removing them before they die. But you will add stress, and each
tiny step down this road could add up to catastrophe during the next
big drought, or the root trenching when you have to replace an
underground utility, or the ice storm that breaks the top out of the
tree.

And, when some of them do become significant branches, you will have
something to leave behind if the outer parts of the branch are damaged
(by storm or truck or whatever). The result of "lion-tailing" or
"poodle-dogging" is that when the end breaks (which happens more often
because all the weight is at the end of a long, non-tapered pole), the
entire branch must be removed.

In short, don't remove anything green without a good reason.

Keith Babberney
ISA Certified Arborist #TX-0236