Re: black locust was: sedums under tree?

Marge,
Great tip! I have a thornless honey locust that is as bad a sucker-er as
the black locust. Leaves are not a problem, but flowers are! They are tiny
and greenish (not showy like the black locust) and when they fall, make a
2" layer of rotting scum on every surface. They even get into the base of
hosta leaves (above the petiole) and proceed to rot there. Once they are
wet, forget trying to clean them off.  Every year I swear I'm going to get
rid of the darn thing, but the flowers attract insects, which in turn
attract migrating warblers, which I wouldn't miss for the world. And the
quality of shade it casts is ideal for the spot it's in. If only it
wouldn't drop those nasty flowers!  Then there's the problem of self
pruning....

But for years I've been cutting or tearing off the suckers, a never-ending
problem. Think I'll try your defoliation method!

Gerry

At 04:19 AM 9/4/00 -0400, you wrote:
>One tip on getting rid of black locust...don't try to cut down
>suckers or pull them - only encourages the roots to sprout more.
>Simply defoliate them and keep it up - two or three times will kill
>the sucker - just don't let leaves form and stay long enough to feed
>the roots.
>
>I didn't believe this when I was first told it, but tried it and it
>works a treat.  Not terribly decorative, but it works.  Once dead,
>you can, of course remove the sapling.  Worked for me on a couple
>that were about 12' tall.  First I cut them back hard and then let
>them leaf out again and removed the leaves...got them to a height I
>could manage easily.  Only had to defoliate them twice last year and
>they died..tee hee :->  Do not love black locust's either...tho' they
>make good firewood.
>
>Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
>mtalt@clark.net
>Editor:  Gardening in Shade
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>> From: Diann Barbee Thoma <diannthoma@EARTHLINK.NET>
>> Date: Friday, September 01, 2000 10:34 AM
>>
>> Your note is somewhat amusing, Marge!  But I just want to clarify
>that
>> locusts with thorns are honey locusts, not black locusts.
>>
>> Another thing I like about black locust is that their leaves don't
>need to
>> be raked.  (On the other hand, they're constantly falling all year
>littering
>> everything!)  And yes, the suckers that never go away.  HOWEVER,
>with 4 huge
>> locust trees, I only pull about 8 suckers a month.  On the other
>hand, with
>> two Norway Maples (now that's a tree I could very successfully and
>happily
>> live without), I start pulling about 150 seedlings a month in the
>Spring;
>> I'm down to 5 a week now.  If you don't watch out, you have
>adolescent Maple
>> trees growing all around the perimeter-just what you want.
>>
>> Diann
>
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