My crab apple is beautiful in the spring. By late summer, the base of the trunk is thick with spring green shoots. The more I prune, the more it grows.
Some resources blame bad rootstock for this bad bahavior. Others see suckers as a sign of tree stress. One thing is clear from my research, once a tree starts to sending up shoots, there is no stopping the bounty.
So, after six years of unsuccessful sucker control, I've decided to make peace with my imperfect tree. Instead of snipping suckers, I'm going to try to camoflage the growth with some creative landscaping.
What do would you do with a tree full of suckers? Keep fighting a losing battle? Cut down the treee and start over?
