If you've ever seen a cluster of skinny, fast-growing shoots erupting from the base of a tree or straight out of the ground around it, you've met suckers. They look vigorous and healthy — which is exactly why they're a problem.
What suckers are
Sucker branches are vigorous shoots that grow from the base of the trunk or from the root system, rather than from the normal canopy structure. They're the tree's response to stress, hard pruning, or simply the habit of certain species and grafted trees. Related growth higher up the trunk gets called "water sprouts," and behaves much the same way.
Why they're worth removing
Suckers aren't free growth — the tree spends real energy on them, energy that should be going into the canopy, roots and healthy structure. Left alone they:
- Drain the tree's resources away from the parts you actually want to grow.
- Create a cluttered, shrubby look at the base instead of a clean trunk.
- Can crowd and weaken the main stem over time.
- On grafted trees, root suckers may come from the rootstock — a different, often inferior tree than the one you bought.
Suckers look like the tree trying harder. Usually they're the tree spending energy in the wrong place.
When to leave them — and how to cut them
In most cases suckers should come off, cleanly, close to where they emerge, and ideally while they're young and soft. The rare exception is a badly damaged tree where low growth is temporarily helping it recover. Persistent suckering can also be a quiet signal that the tree is stressed — worth a closer look at the root of it, literally.
Seeing a thicket forming at the base of a favourite tree? Ask us — it's a quick job, and a good moment to check why it's happening.