Native Plants

Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?

A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.

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Thursday - January 26, 2012

From: Austin, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Pruning, Trees
Title: Controlling oak suckers in Austin
Answered by: Barbara Medford

QUESTION:

I live in Austin TX and have one particular native Oak tree in my back yard with a large bed around it. I don't plan on planting anything else in the bed since it is already nicely landscaped along the back & edges of the bed, however, the root system sends up scads of "suckers" that are several inches high throughout the bed, requiring hours of continual, back-bending work to cut them off at ground level. I've put down porous landscape fabric & covered with mulch, but it only seems to be temporary. Is there anything else I can do to eliminate this constant, unsightly problem?

ANSWER: