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How can I kill a rhus tree please

syyeomansonsyyeomanson Posts: 2
edited August 2019 in Problem solving
I have a rhus in the back garden but unfortunately my husband also planted one in our front lawn. I had this dug out/cut down but keep ketting mini shoots/trees all over the lawn. Have treated with weedkiller and am now desperate as they still keep coming. I am going to have lawn taken up eventually but need to know how to get rid of these before putting anything on top.  I am also trying to get rid of the one in my back garden have cut back but keeps sprouting.   I found out since then these are apparently toxic.   Since my husband passed away I have been trying to maintain but am 77 and finding hard.   Can someone help please?  Do I need to get a specialist in to do this please? Sorry for the long garbled message.

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  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 29,636
    edited August 2019
    The good news is that it is not considered to be poisonous.  The bad news is that it spreads, prolifically, by underground suckering and popping up just where you don't want it.  The more you prune, the more it spreads to defend itself.

    I found this info: -Sumac is very sensitive to herbicides such as triclopyr (Garlon 3A and 4), so that existing stems can be killed by cutting and treating, or by basal bark treatment. However, although herbicide treatment will kill above-ground stems, rhizomes and the buds that turn into root suckers usually escape treatment.

    This is in the SBK Brushwood Killer formulation made by Vitax and available as a concentrated liquid you dilute and paint on or spray or you can by it as a readymade spray which is probably more expensive.  Whichever you use, make sure it's not a windy day, protect other plants you wish to keep and make sure your skin is protected too.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 10,907
    I took one out years ago and the suckers popped up in the lawn for several years after.
    But I mowed the tops off every time I cut the grass and eventually they stopped coming.
    Some roots were at ground level but they were quite easy to cut out.

    The spice Sumac is made from the flower heads, but I'm not sure if it's the same plant as grown in gardens. It's got a tangy citrus taste.

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • Dave HumbyDave Humby Posts: 1,145
    Dig the suckers / tuber rooting out if you can get to them and / or keep cutting if on the lawn. In my case it's not possible as they are / were on a bank with a lot of other planting plus a boundary. It's an ongoing 'challenge' to say the very least. Dreadful plant in these situations.
  • barry islandbarry island Posts: 1,746
    When I got my first house in 1974 we had one of these trees and although it was a small attractive tree I did notice the sucker problem, there seemed to be quite a few of the trees around the neighbourhood at the time. I still live in the same area but in a different house and can't remember when I last saw one of these once popular trees. I would agree that they eventually give up if you keep chopping their heads off.
  • cornellycornelly Posts: 970
    Ours eventually stopped suckering, didn't take that many years, they were a nuisance.
  • syyeomansonsyyeomanson Posts: 2
    Thank you everyone for replying.  I will keep cutting and also try the herbicide if I can get this. 
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