Interesting that although staghorn sumac is native to Minnesota the cut-leaved version sometimes freezes back.

I have 2 of these and they are 3 years old, about 6 feet tall now. I had a bad problem with suckering this year. I bet I clipped off at least 50 "babies" this spring, and they are sprouting up again in new places. They are growing in among other plants, making it difficult to remove them. They are beautiful, though after they have filled out in the spring and the fall colors are great. They need to be in a place that allows them to spread. I did not have this problem until this year as they have matured to their full height. I am seriously thinking about removing them in the fall after their branches have fallen off and moving them to a field where they can spread as they choose.

Put a root barrier around them, as is done with running bamboo.

They are unlikely to remain 6' tall. Trees and shrubs don't grow to a predetermined height and then come to a complete halt. Every time new growth is made the specimen becomes that much taller.

No suckers yet and it is doing very well with very little care--maybe that is the trick.

I'm removing mine this year, much as it pains me to get rid of plants! I've had mine for 4+ years & this year, I'm appalled at how far they're spread! It's not suckering closer to the tress, itself..but from 6+ ft onward! I have them popping up at 18 ft away from the tree base (we measured it to see). It really breaks my heart, as I love the gorgeous colors...they go well with my threadleaf maple. I have 14 "sprouts" all in all. UGH!

I am thinking that mine will have to go this year as well. Suckering is getting worse and the pretty Susie something daylily is also running amuck! Things just don't stay the same!I have places I could move the Sumac. Does anyone know how well they transplant?

I am very interested in growing some of these plants! My plan is to sink a large lawn-sized rubber garbage can into the ground, with it's bottom cut out, or holes drilled into the sides, depending on what the root habit/depth is (still doing research. This should keep them from spreading past the container size.

Also, has anyone tried varying degrees of shade with these plants? I have a lot of mature trees in my yard, and would love to have these in part shade or on the edge of my shade garden.

If anyone is interested in sending me some suckers, I would be more than happy to cover shipping, do an exchange, or work out other compensation! Thanks so much!

We planted two in a remote corner of our yard in Lino Lakes (MN) three years ago and they are gorgeous in the fall. Only about 3 feet tall thus far. Have not had any suckers yet, or problems with rabbits or deer eating them. However, just this spring one of our plants has developed a fuzzy white fungus on it, looking like small shelf-mushrooms mid-way up a main trunk, and all the buds above it are beginning to dry up and die as well as the bark cracking open revealing a dried-up woody interior. Also, beneath the fungus there is a glob of a brownish waxy substance accumulating, like a sap blob. Don't know if this is something that will spread to the other plant near it, or not. Should the trunk be lopped-off? Should the whole plant be removed? Can it be saved? Does anyone know???

We live in Central PA and planted a Tiger Eye (in the fall) about 3 years ago as a focal point in our landscaping. BIG mistake. Although beautiful in color the suckering is terrible. It began to get to large for it's location so we transplanted it last fall and continue to have problems with suckering in it's original location. I can't tell you how many yards of root system I pulled this weekend. It actually started to root under our porch foundation. God only knows were little ones will pop up next. Uugghh! As far as transplanting...it did just fine, however I'm seriously thinking about getting rid of it completely. I don't want to go thru this again!

I am thinking of replanting mine near a black walnut tree. Will the jugalone from the tree bother it?

Since the species is suckerous there is little reason to think 'Bailtiger' would not produce suckers.

Disturbing the soil around it, as with cultivation or weeding would seem likely to increase the suckering. But sumacs are suckerous anyway.

I planted a Tiger Eye Sumac 3 years ago, not knowing that they would produce suckers. I planted it as a focal point by the front porch and house. It is beautiful. I have been told that I should probably move it this fall because of the roots. I do not want the roots to get into foundation. Does anyone have any knowledge on this? Should I move it this fall or can I spade around to to keep the roots from getting into foundation and under porch.

I moved mine last year because I was continuously digging around it and disturbing the roots while rearranging the garden. That definitely seems to trigger suckering. It didn't like the move but it is recovering. I didn't find the roots that hard to deal with but it had only been there about four years. If you like how it looks and can leave the roots undisturbed, I would leave it where it is. On the other hand if your foundation is really old brick or cracked CMU block, you might want to move it. If your house is relatively new, I wouldn't worry about the plant hurting your foundation. The golden Sumac can be a very beautiful addition to the garden.

Plant with root barrier around it, same as is done with running bamboos.

I bought a potted Tiger Eye Sumac last summer. In late summer / fall, one by one the leaves turned yellow and the branches fell off until it was a stick. Over the winter it sat there unprotected in a (large) pot, as I thought it was dead. This Spring it's foliage burst forth unbelievably, unfurling branch after branch of healthy green leaves. A few weeks ago though the branches started (from the bottom) turning yellow and falling off again. What am I doing wrong? I fear my healthy, lush tree will be a stick again in several weeks, and all the lessons I thought I learned about new life springing from what seem like dead old branches will have to be replaced by darker stories.

It sounds like mine is behaving in a similar fashion Michaelpatrick_va... I planted it in early summer, grew 6 inches and lovely...only one sucker and I have it in an area surrounded by weedbarrier cloth.. hope that keeps it in place...........if it lives at all.. Its nearly Oct 1, and not turning colors yet but all of the leaves about 4 inches from the top down are turning brown and falling off. Wonder if it will come back like yours. Where are the beautiful fall colors it promised?

I'm at Echo Lake near Woodinville/Monroe and planted two last year but the deer decimated them, so I put up protection and was hoping they would come back. They did, though as someone said, they leaf out quite late. Now I'm just hoping that they will attain a size that will allow me to remove the ugly metal surround at some point. Damn deer; they eat everything. I planted some Autumn Joy sedum earlier this year and it was gone before it even had a hope, same with my smoke bush, redtwig dogwood, you name it. Expensive little (big) pests.

Hi, We have one in our backyard which faces south. It is just absolutely beautiful and has grown quite a bit since we planted it about 3 year ago. If I can figure out how to post a picture I will do it.

cannot figure out how to submit a picture. Can someone enlighten me.

pnwretired,

All you need to do is set up with a web hosting site, such as Photobucket, which is free. Looking forward to seeing your pictures!

The most impressive one I see on a regular basis is also against a south-facing wall (on Camano Island). During summer it is quite yellow.

I dug up a nice start of this last week. Will bring it to the Green Elephant if you'd like.
Jim

I have a Tiger Eye Sumac, and I'm finding suckers/shoots everywhere! It was planted before I moved here about three years ago. I've found suckers/shoots 30 feet away from the sumac on the other side of the driveway. I'm finding this to be extremely invasive. I could easily spend 30 minutes a week removing suckers. I'm in the Minneapolis area. Is this normal? I'm tempted to rip the thing out! Any insight would be appreciated.

NOT deerproof! Deer killed my first one. Now I protect with netting and repellent. I find the deer like new shoots of any Sumac so it seems the trick is to get them to grow enough to get woody branches.

This was the 2nd summer for mine and it is really bushy and pretty. It's planted with it's back to a short wall and in front a sidewalk, so it's not completely free to roam. So far I do have one shoot, but haven't noticed any others. Also, didn't see any significant color change in fall last year like it is supposed to. I do like it's different coloration but think it might outgrow it's spot. Is there any reason one can't prune to keep it down?

This year (it's 3rd in my garden) is the first time it's really seemed to be actively growing (instead of merely struggling to survive). It looks smashing right now and I'm hoping for some good fall color. No suckering at all (yet) so I'm crossing my fingers :-)

What a pretty garden you have, scotty!

I have had a Tiger Eye sumac for about 7 years. The first 3-4 years it was in a succession of pots and did well until it outgrew the last pot. Then it started to yellow and drop leaves like crazy in midsummer. I don't think these plants tolerate being root bound at all, although they are tough plants that will rebound in the spring.

I finally put it in the ground where it gets about 6 hours of sun. It is not a super sunny spot. That was about 3-4 years ago. It was quite root bound when I planted it and I didn't uncoil the roots like I normally would because of the suckering reputation of this plant. I just left the roots in a tight ball. It's done really well and is now about 5x5'. It is a very nice light green during cloudy spells and then noticeably turns yellow during sunny spells. The yellow leaves seem to turn back to green when it gets cloudy again, which is very strange. As it has matured, it has started to produce more of the flowers and this year is the first year that they are really what I would call decorative. It's a very good looking plant. It has early and gorgeous fall colors.

So far, I have not had any suckering. This spring, I pulled a little miniature Tiger Eye plantlet growing directly under it within a foot of the trunk and thought, oh no, the suckering has begun. But it turned out to be just a seedling; when I pulled it up, it had tiny roots and wasn't attached to anything.

I purchased my tiger's eye in a 3 gallon pot in 2007. I rarely water it and it gets sun all day. I live in southwest WI. Last year I trimmed it back because it was over 8 - yes 8 - feet tall and about that big around! This summer it grew to 8 feet again! I planted this next to my house and just this week cut it down and dug up the stump. The stump was about 10-12 inches around! My mother plant suckered everywhere! I used to pull them out but stopped because I knew I was going to dig them out. WOW - what a beautiful grove I had! I am so sad to see them go. Does anyone know if the shoots can be replanted? A few friends want them. Also, wonder if a branch from the mother plant can be rooted...I would also like to keep one for myself but plant it in a large pot - any thoughts? Jackie

Hi, I joined this forum a while back and don't know that I have ever posted until now.

I have had a Tiger eye sumac for a few years now. It looks spectacular in the Spring and most of the Summer. Around the first of August it begins to turn brown and drop it's leaves. I never get the fall color that I expect. Anyone have any idea why this is happening?

This is what it looked like at it's peak in July, and what it looks like now. It did this the previous two years.

{{!gwi}}
{{!gwi}}

I would love to know how all the sumac plants from this older post are doing especially with regard to suckering. I'd love to plant one in my urban garden but I'm afraid of suckers. I'd plant perennials underneath so the ground would be disturbed quite often and I'm hearing that that stimulates suckers. Are there any new varieties that don't sucker?
If you have it in a pot, how large is the pot and the plant? Is it happy?
I had Tiger Eyes in my previous garden and it only produced about three suckers in two years; I can deal with that! However, I'm worried that the suckering will get out of control in this location.., Thank you for any wisdom you can provide!

Still don't remember seeing one make a thicket in this area. But planting it with root barrier around it would eliminate the risk, unless the barrier was not put in right or got damaged later.

The one that I planted that was severely root bound and I didn't uncoil the roots still hasn't suckered at all. It was in pots for 3-4 years and has now been in the ground for 6 years. I avoid disturbing the soil around it as much as possible, though I do have some heucheras and sedum ground covers growing under it.

I kept mine in a pot. It got quite mis-shapen and the deer ate it. This spring it got turfed.

I live in Minnesota and planted two Tiger Eyes two years ago. They have thrived and are gorgeous. I have a total of three suckers that I'm going to try replanting. By doing that I hope it doesn't encourage more suckering.

Has anyone had success in replanting the suckers?

When I purchased the Tiger Eyes II wasn't aware that there might be a problem with suckering otherwise I would have planted them in a large sunken container with the bottom cut off. That has worked for me with some invasive plants.

I bought one about 8 years ago, was told it got about 5' tall--well it is about 9' tall now. Yes, I get suckers all summer long-constantly cutting them. My question is can you use the buds for lemonade or spices from this plant as the ones in the wild?

The Tiger Eyes sumac is grown near me. It is substantially weaker than its wild ancestor grown nearby also. It is droopy, pale and just 6ft tall without nourishment. The "tree" style is practically impossible as the shrub is already weak without any aggressive pruning. As an upside, it won't spread like crazy.

Great thread!
I have had two small Tiger Eyes for two years. They're struggling a bit, but I guess they are consolidating the root system. No rhizomes yet. Sandy soil, full sun. They're in a handy size for replanting.
My other sumac (Autumn Gold) is maybe eight years old, and shooting ten rhizomes during summer. It's in the lawn so no trouble removing. This is too large to transplant with barrier.
Q: How deep should the rhizome barrier go for the sumacs?

I have had Tiger Eye sumac for about 5 years and I have suckers all over my bed. (I live in zone 4) It is a very beautiful speciman but I would HIGHLY recommend putting up a barrier of some sort!

I've sadly given up with mine. I ended up digging the whole thing up & gifting it to a friend that's been eyeing it. She lives out in the middle of (practically) nowhere, has acreage & she wanted it at the far back of her property as a hedge of sorts. They were suckering horribly in my yard, even sending out shoots 20 ft away, into my neighbor's yard!

Sad to see it go, as it had the most gorgeous foliage. :)

My first two have been in the ground 8 years now. Added a third but don't remember when. Deer continue to mess with them every fall except last year because I put a big fence around them in August (I had plans of putting a fence up in 2013 but the deer struck early so I struck earlier last year). Fence looked bad but my sumac went unmolested and now the fence is down until August. My sumac does not put out suckers.

Beyond the interesting colour spring, summer and fall, I adore the architecture of the tree itself and love it as winter interest. The shape shows itself clearly and it's presently my favourite tree to prune. It is a charming, elegant and yet whimsical tree. I care for several groves at a local estate and can confirm that they do sucker, but much less than Stag Horn or Smooth Sumac. They also need half the water. My question is " If you where to introduce a root barrier with an established plant, how deep would you make it? What materials would you suggest?

I love my tiger eye sumac and have had it for 3 years but why is it growing slanted? So weird. I don't remember planting it on a slant. Even if I had, shouldn't it straighten itself out?

Help! I just figured out what this was and I don't know if it's dead or what to do!

Cara, if you are in an area in North America where it can survive, a live staghorn sumac should have leafed out by now.

I have one going on our 6 years now mine is huge and after the 4th year it now has red bulbs\flowers? It is very pretty in the fall but it takes a long time to get its leaves in the spring.mine is growing in a slant also but it looks fine we just have to trim it. I liver in Montana and it does great here.

Tiger Eye Sumacs are a NIGHTMARE to deal with once you start trying to prune them or cut them back. They are incredibly invasive and take over garden beds like you wouldn't believe. The more you try to fight them, the faster and farther they grow. They drown out everything else. Farmers have to burn them out to get them out of their fields, and even then, the suckers still survive to thrive in another season. It can take 3 years of dedicated herbicide applications to completely eradicate. So please DO NOT plant them where they can spread into the wild or into a neighbor's yard. Please do not "let them loose in a field" as one poster said they were considering doing. We will be completely removing all the soil in the garden bed against our porch where a previous owner had planted one of these nightmares. It was 5 feet tall and an eyesore 5 months out of the year. My husband cut it down and put stump killer on it. Immediately, suckers shot up and started filling the bed. He dug the stump out, and put herbicides on the remaining suckers. Less than 3 months later, we now have 10-12 sumacs that are 3 feet tall already with more suckers coming up. This is in an 8 foot stretch of raised bed, mind you. So everything else is being drowned out. We've tried root killer, herbicides, digging out root systems...nothing works to stop this monster. So, now we're going to have to dig everything out, throw away the dirt, and start over. Hopefully we can save some of the valuable shrubs around it.

planted 2 of these less than 18months ago and love the foliage.. This baby is a fast grower. Container said this grows up to 6ft, but this shrub / small tree - whatever it is is now 8 ft tall.. Suckers have tried to pop up here and there, but not as much since i have a tarp barrier in the ground.. .. you really have to cut off the suckers regularly.. i wld not plant this in a flower bed, unless you can religiously control the suckers.. very beautiful though.

I recently purchased a tiger eye sumac and it’s currently planted in a large pot and is kept outside on my patio in full sun. My plan was to start it there and later plant it in the yard. However, Ive noticed that some of the leaves are turning yellow and the branches are starting to fall off. Any advice?? Thanks!!

Claire This variety is weak compared to the plain wild one. Even if you plant it straight in the ground, it will likely remain droopy. I'd say, always plant Tiger Eyes in the ground. You can put the wild sumac in the pot to control its spread and it will survive there because it's hardy.

The "branches" you are talking about are just stems of compound leaves and they fall off regularly.

I bought 2 Tiger Eyes at an upscale nursery last year and before July, the leaves started turning brown and both died. Took them back but the poor warranty (1 year at 50%) gave me 2 more that I planted at another location. These lasted until end of August and the leaves turned brown and died. We live in the Atlanta area and I made sure they were planted on a slope and watered every 3 days. Suckers do appear but die. What gives? I read all these comments but these 2-sets don't make it.