Questions about this tulip poplar that I just transplanted.

[carg618]

Just transplanted tulip poplar. Are these shoots suckers? And will the tree grow normal? What should I trim off? And how often should I give water. I live in connecticut

 

[Del_]

It looks like tulip poplar may have been cut down with a lawn mower and those are indeed suckers.

I'd select the largest one to the left in your first photo.

Multi stem tulip poplars develop included bark which is not a good thing so I'd go for a single stem.

Yours ought to do fine.

 

[carg618]

It looks like tulip poplar may have been cut down with a lawn mower and those are indeed suckers.

I'd select the largest one to the left in your first photo.

Multi stem tulip poplars develop included bark which is not a good thing so I'd go for a single stem.

Yours ought to do fine.

Thank you!

Should I wait to get rid of the smaller suckers since I just transplanted it? Also, there’s a bunch of what look like dead sucker stems coming from the trunk. Should I leave them be or should I trim them as close to the trunk as I can?

 

[Del_]

I'd do it now and the dead suckers too.

 

[carg618]

I'd do it now and the dead suckers too.

Thank you for your help. I just want to make sure I’m not going to stress it out more being that I just transplanted it. A couple people told me to wait for the tree to get settled in and cut them in the spring to reduce transplant shock.

Additionally, would leaving the center sucker be the best since it’s in the center or should I still leave the left one since it’s the biggest and seems to be the most directed to the biggest root.

I have had bad luck with trees dying after transplanted so I am probably more freaked out than I need to be. Should I water this tree everyday?

 

[Del_]

I would keep the biggest stem and plant it so it is vertical although it likely makes little difference. Only keep the soil moist, is looks a bit too wet in the one photo.

It's going to send up more 'suckers' that are going to need to be removed in the years to come.

You can see where the root mass turns into trunk and make sure the change point is at ground level making sure to account for soil settlement. Even a small mound would be good. Any roots that are damaged prune off near the damage so it is a clean wound.

Don't overwater.

 

[carg618]

I would keep the biggest stem and plant it so it is vertical although it likely makes little difference. Only keep the soil moist, is looks a bit too wet in the one photo.

It's going to send up more 'suckers' that are going to need to be removed in the years to come.

You can see where the root mass turns into trunk and make sure the change point is at ground level making sure to account for soil settlement. Even a small mound would be good. Any roots that are damaged prune off near the damage so it is a clean wound.

Don't overwater.

Ok. So if I make the dirt a bit higher to the point where the root turns into the stem, this should reduce suckers to come up?

Would you water everyday?

I also transplanted a few eastern white pine trees. I really want all of them to live. Should I water them every night for a few weeks? And I assume maybe a gallon of water each just so they are moist?

 

[Del_]

Only water when it is dry. Overwatering kills.

You are going to be pruning shoots for years and may see quite a few next spring. Get them when they are small.

Planting on a very small mound, maybe two or three inches is best.

It will not reduce suckers though and you may see dozens that you will want to remove over the years.

 

[carg618]

Only water when it is dry. Overwatering kills.

You are going to be pruning shoots for years and may see quite a few next spring. Get them when they are small.

Planting on a very small mound, maybe two or three inches is best.

It will not reduce suckers though and you may see dozens that you will want to remove over the years.

Nice. I will increase the dirt mound when I get home.

So from what I can gather, cutting the suckers now won’t cause extra stress because it’s a whole other tree that I’m cutting. Maybe it will even help the chances of survival? Hypothetically, cutting branches off of the stem I plan to keep, will cause added stress maybe?

 

[Del_]

The other suckers are not other trees. The whole clump is one tree.

The reason for cutting all of the suckers is so the result is one single leader tulip poplar.

If you let the other suckers grow they will press up against one another and create an included bark multiple trunked tree. Included bark is bad and 20 to 50 years down the road likely will result in the failure of some of these leaders. At that time in the future the all of the stems will be damaged by the included bark including the one I suggest that you select out now to keep.

What you do now will have ramifications for the rest of the life of the tree. Over the years you will likely get other suckers that need removed.

In the nursery, some trees, take river birch for example, are grown as a single stem from seed and when an inch or two in diameter are cut to the ground to promote suckers like you are seeing now. River birch look good with multi stemmed trunks but river birch do develop some of the same multi stem problems that we are discussing. River birch do better than tulip poplars with multi stemmed growth.

As your single stemmed tulip poplar grows over the years come back to this thread or start a new one and we can offer more suggestions on training pruning.

There are quite a few qualified arborist on this forum and some may offer slightly different advice.

This is the time of year to collect acorns from the oaks and you could seed some very nice oaks in your growing area for next to no cost. Protection from deer may be necessary for a few years or even longer.