Garden Pictures Pictures by Chrispook (1059 photos)

hi Chris, you have a lovely garden, is that a Rhus in the middle? if so i wonder if i could pick your brains about it, i have just planted one, and Bluespruce has warned me that they put out succers everywhere sometimes as far away as 15ft, which can obviously cause a problem, if planted close to a boundry which mine is. well i really like my little tree and don't really want to dig it up unless i have to, have you had any problems with yours? and which variety is it? thanks Angie.

Hi Angie, I'm not sure I can answer your question fully. I have 2 Rhus Sumach in my garden. The older one we bought 2 years ago and the local garden centre called it a Vinegar tree (In hungarian you understand). it is tall and leggy with three main upright trunks. The colour is magnificent, and it has shown no sign of suckering yet. The smaller one that you saw in the photo came from a neighbour who insisted it was not a vinegar tree. The leaves look the same, but it's parent next door is more tree shaped and not leggy like my other one. It has been in my garden since Spring 2007 so it is young. No suckering yet! I have a friend in England who says hers does sucker, but it's not a problem where she has it and she just pulls up unwanted suckers.
It's such a magnificent tree in the Autumn that I would risk the suckering, maybe play safe and put it where it will not be disruptive. Hope this helps.