Sweetgum volunteers

[branchacctg]

Took out large sweetgum tree two years ago and had the stump ground down to about a foot below the surface.  Still getting sprouts (volunteers) along the old root system which covers about half the front yard.  Have been spraying them with RoundUp but they still keep coming.  Any suggestions for getting rid of them on a permanent basis (short of digging up the entire root system) will be appreciated.  Thanks in Advance for your help.

[crokett™]

keep cutting them back. eventually the stored energy in the roots will run out and the roots will die. you might be able to drill into the roots and put roundup or woody brush killer in directly.

[fixtureman]

keep cutting them back.  eventually the stored energy in the roots will run out and the roots will die.  you might be able to drill into the roots and put roundup or woody brush killer in directly.

Plus 1 just keep mowing them off.

[MarkSingleton]

Yep. I had to do the same thing with two very large lemon trees when we bought this place.
Several years went by before I finally won.

[Petertaylor]

It takes a lot of work, but after you clip off the sprout, spray it with Tordon (brand name). Tordon kills the root.

[JosephP]

It takes a lot of work, but after you clip off the sprout, spray it with Tordon (brand name). Tordon kills the root.

Ideally, you would have treated the stump right after it was cut, then waited a few weeks to have the stump ground...that would have killed the root system before it started sprouting.  Now the challenge is getting enough herbicide into the roots to kill them.  A tiny dot at a time won't do that really well.  Can you see bigger sections of roots?  If so, like crocket said, you could drill into bigger sections of roots (or shave the top off with chainsaw) and treat with the Tordon.  Did you buy Tordon RTU?  If so, just use that straight outta the bottle.  It doesn't take a bunch...just need to treat a big enough area to get into the whole root system.

[branchacctg]

Ideally, you would have treated the stump right after it was cut, then waited a few weeks to have the stump ground...that would have killed the root system before it started sprouting.  Now the challenge is getting enough herbicide into the roots to kill them.  A tiny dot at a time won't do that really well.  Can you see bigger sections of roots?  If so, like crocket said, you could drill into bigger sections of roots (or shave the top off with chainsaw) and treat with the Tordon.  Did you buy Tordon RTU?  If so, just use that straight outta the bottle.  It doesn't take a bunch...just need to treat a big enough area to get into the whole root system.

Yes, I purchased Tordon RTU.  Can only see a few inches of the roots, but will try to drill into them a put some Tordon into them.  Taking tree down and removing stump and debris was all part of the package.  They did an excellent job especially on the clean-up. Don't seem to be having this problem with the oaks and pines they took down, just this sweetgum.

[fredhargis]

I have that problem with a couple of different species, and the mowing them down trick works...but it does take a while....pretty much what crockett said about the energy of the root system. Should you have occasion to do this with another tree, before grinding the stump drill holes in it anf fill those holes with a good brush killer (I use Bayer) then let it sit several months before you grind it out. That's worked for me on a couple of trees.

[branchacctg]

Thanks everyone for the comments.  I have been mowing them down since the tree was taken out, about two years now.  They are still popping back up. the RoundUp seems to kill them but they still return.  Have ordered the Tordon from Amazon and will give it a shot later this week.  Until then, looks like mow until they give up or I do.

[JosephP]

I certainly wouldn't expect any that on pine. Oaks can stump sprout, but rarely root sucker. So, but surprised they aren't giving you the same problem. The other option would have been to treat a tree before removing it. That's they only way we'll remove Ailanthus, for example. Treating before cutting kills the roots before that response of 'holy cow, I just lost my top so I better send up suckers now!' is triggered.

I'd rather stump treat which works great on most trees, but Ailanthus is a special kind of hateful sprouting tree.