Glossary term
What is Sucker?
Short answer
A sucker is a shoot that grows up from the roots or the base of a tree, away from the main trunk.
Sucker, explained for tree service owners
A sucker is a shoot that rises from a tree's roots or from the base of the trunk. It is different from a water sprout, which grows from a branch or trunk higher up. Some species, such as crabapple, lilac and poplar, make a lot of suckers. On grafted trees, suckers can come from the rootstock and are not the same plant as the top, so they may have different leaves or fruit. For a tree service owner, removing suckers is a small, easy add-on job that homeowners often need once a year. Cut them close to where they start. If you only snip the top, they often come back fast.
Related terms
- Buttress roots
Buttress roots are wide, thick roots at the base of a trunk that help hold a tree upright.
- Cambium
Cambium is the thin layer of living cells just under the bark that makes new wood inward and new bark outward each year.
- Canopy
Canopy is the layer of branches and leaves formed by the crowns of a tree or of many trees together.
- Conifer
A conifer is a tree that makes seeds in cones and usually has needles or scale-like leaves.
- Crown
Crown is the upper part of a tree made of branches, twigs and leaves, growing from the trunk.
- Evergreen tree
An evergreen tree is a tree that keeps green leaves or needles all year and replaces them gradually.
- Excurrent form
Excurrent form is a tree shape with one strong central trunk and side branches, like a pine or spruce.
- Girdling root
A girdling root is a root that circles the trunk or another root and slowly squeezes it.
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