Q: My sumac (staghorn) is now sprouting many “little sumacs” everywhere. I have been trying to pull them up (seldom being able to get the root), but they are popping up faster than I can pull them. I guess the term is called colonizing! Can anything be sprayed on the babies that will kill only them? I’m afraid that chemicals would travel to the main tree. Any suggestions?
A: I am afraid you are in trouble. You are right: Sumac plants form colonies, and spraying parts of the colony can kill portions of it that you want to keep. These plants are aggressive enough to come up a long way away from the original plant. Being aggressive can be good on steep slopes or roadsides, but it can be hard to keep up with in a garden. Some individual sumac plants in some individual locations are hardly aggressive at all, but it sounds like yours isn’t one of them. Cutting the little sumacs off repeatedly is the best way of preventing them from getting a foothold in a new location.
