I have two huge Chinese Sumac (Tree of Heaven) trees in my backyard. They were planted here by the original owners. They are the most awful trees. Little ones sprout up off the roots of the big ones all year around. In July, they bloom and send off seeds and not to mention that they stink terribly. We have to be careful because they are very fast growing and in 1-2 weeks our yard can be covered. The trees give us all very bad allergies. I have tried all kinds of things to get rid of them and digging them up is the only thing that works so far. My neighbor has tried diesel and weed spray. Not working! Does anyone have any ideas on how to get rid of them? I have two growing in my foundation and I don't want them to ruin my foundation or plumbing.
C., are you trying to get rid of the tree or the sprouts? The sprouts are called suckers, and I believe that there is a spray for them. Our aspen does that and we just mow them down. If you want to get rid of the trees, I would say a tree service. They can cut down the trees for you and take care of grinding up the stump, and carting it all away.
If you want to get rid of the trees, (I don't know how big they are, I'm not sure I can picture the tree) cut them down and pour round up in the trunk when it is fall and they are storing all their nutrients into the roots. They will suck up that round up and it will go into the root system which should help with the off shoots. Don't remove the stump until there are no more off shoots coming up. Then you'll know that you killed them. This is how I have been told to get rid of aspens which do similar things. You might check with a nursery onthe exact timing. Good luck.
I have these horrible tree weeds too. I went to City Floral last week and they sell a product for these sucker trees that pop up all over your yard. It is expensive ($35) but you spray it on the leaves and it will shrivel up. They told me you have to work at it for a whole summer to get rid of the problem but then it should be better. I am hoping this works because I have tried everything else too.
Hi C.,
Call the Colorado State University Extention Agent, or one of their Master Gardeners and they will give you free advise.
Shirley
Quit watering them, then drill a hole into the trunk next to the ground, pour a bit of gasoline in them (you could try round up). The tree will be very thirsty (because you quit watering them) and will suck the "poison" right into their leaves. It takes about a week and a couple of times doing this, but it kills them. When you are sure they are dead then you can remove them from the ground. If you pull them up before they are truly dead then you just add more roots to the ground.
Lots of water and pure cranberry juice really works for me.
Hi C. - yes, those sumac trees are terrible for growing just everywhere. If RoundUp or another kind of weedkiller hasnt worked, visit your local nursery/garden center for a product that will get rid of them.
We had a locust that did the same thing and RoundUp and constant trimming took care of it. We lost the tree and still had sprouts coming up everywhere just from the roots. Trimming the new sprouts and spraying along the foundation finally got rid of them.
