The question is, "Why do I have little tree shoots coming up in my yard?"
Human Aesthetics try to override thousands of years of nature's engineering. I see it all the time. You might be guilty too. How? Think of all the little sprouts, "suckers," around the base of your tree or the "water" sprouts in the canopy. Every single year, religiously and painstakingly so, you remove all those little nasties. You want your tree to look good, but what do you get for all your hard work? A raging pruning war. Sneaky Root "suckers" populating your lawn. Have you ever wondered why?
In the Spokane and Coeur d'Alene area it is about the 1. Genera and 2. hormones.
A dead language, and why that matters
Genera is just the plural form of the word genus, which is how trees are classified in Latin. Latin is technically a dead language and that's why it was chosen. It won't change ... it's dead. In the tree world a two-part name system is used. The first word is genus; the second word is the species within that genus. Here is an example: Populus tremuloides, which is the botanical Latin name for the Quaking Aspen. The word "Populus" would not only include Aspen, but other like trees (ex. Poplars, Cottonwoods, etc.). The willow tree is of the genus Salix, containing around 350 species. The Sumac is of the genus Rhus, containing 35 species, and the Pine tree, Pinus (100 different species).
Meet the Pioneers
The Pines, Poplars, Aspens, Cottonwoods, Willows and Sumacs are some of the woody plants known as Pioneers. The idea of first succession in nature is where trees begin to access and establish new areas ... they are settlers, pioneering new hostile lands.
These "Pioneer" trees will provide shade and cover for the development of the more desirable Genera. These trees are easy to grow and grow almost anywhere and seem to thrive under neglect. They grow fast and die fast. These trees are the go-to for building contractors and perfect trees to get their homes sold.
The mission of the Pioneer tree never changes. The mission is simple: explore, establish, and dominate, fair or unfair.
A fascinating and natural phenomenon that can be extremely annoying and problematic. If you have Aspen trees or a pioneer-type tree, you will have suckers.
Everything in life has hormones
Another way to answer the question, "Why do I have little shoots coming up in my yard?" Think about this: everything in life has hormones. Hormones are chemical messengers that control the cycles and seasons of life. Example: young men do the things that they do, and old men do the things they do... right? Same thing for young Pioneer trees. Hormones are always competing (checks and balances). These hormones control how and where a tree can grow, and how it will stay alive.
There are many different types of hormones in trees. The root suckers in your yard are driven by an increase in the hormone called cytokinin. This is a stimulator hormone produced in the roots that promotes cell division and encourages shoot development. This hormone travels upward. Another Hormone (among all of them) is called Auxin; it is an inhibitor. It helps suppress and hold back the root suckers from going wild.
What tips the balance
When a tree (especially a pioneer tree) experiences stress, drought, pathogens, insects, root wounding, bad pruning, or even "lawnmower blight" or "string trimmer blight," etc., it creates disruption. The influence of the auxins drops and the cytokinins dominate. What happens then?
Cytokinins create rapid cell division, dormant buds begin to grow, and you got suckers.
What can you do?
Be mindful of
- What is already planted in your yard (what kind of trees do you have)
- How you care for the trees you have
- What you plant next
I'm not advocating for a no-plant list. Your yard, your plants, do what you want. I'm just advocating that you be mindful of what is happening. The urban environment/landscapers try to replicate the natural environment.
Should plants (i.e., Pioneer trees with hormones) that do well in the "uncultivated" wild be introduced and encouraged in a well-maintained and cultivated backyard? That is your decision.
Before you go
Here is the part I really want you to hear. Suckers are not just an eyesore. They are a signal. Something knocked that tree off balance, and this is the only way it has of telling you about it. Was it drought? Root damage from a trench somebody dug last summer? A bad pruning cut? Compacted soil? Figuring out which one it is, that's the part I can help with. Call me and ask.
Hope that answers the question. See you next week.
