By Amsterdam
Shropshire,
United Kingdom 
Staghorn sumac. Near to my inherited staghorn tree I have lots of suckers coming up in my rockery. 😖 My question is if I treat these suckers with a chemical to kill them will that feed back to the main tree? Are the suckers connected via root system? I would like to get rid of the tree eventually but not just yet. Thanks
24 Jul, 2019
Answers
You could try a simple contact weed killer instead of systemic
25 Jul, 2019
Thank you Seaburngirl and Grandad gardener. Will try the contact weed killer for now.
25 Jul, 2019
Previous question
yes the suckers are connected to the tree and any chemicals added to the suckers will travel to the main tree.
sever the sucker underground root runner then you can poison the sucker. however this will possibly stimulate even more suckers.
24 Jul, 2019