Sucker removal from lime tree

[Guest Gimlet]

I've just tendered for a garden maintenance contract that includes a grassy island in a village street with a large mature lime tree in the middle of it.

The tree is 30 - 40 feet high and a good two feet thick. Around the base there's a forest of suckers. They form a clump about seven feet wide and they're up to five feet tall.

 

The previous contractor used to cut the grass but did nothing to tend tree. The grassy island is getting obliterated by suckers. I grew up in the area and know that in the past the suckers were kept cropped. A woody mound was formed which people used sit on in the shade of the tree. It made an attractive feature and the tree was something of a focal point.

 

When would be the best time to cut these suckers? The contract starts at the beginning of May. Can I cut them in the growing season? Will that harm the tree or make the growth worse, or should they be cut in winter? 

[Guest Gimlet]

BTW, I did do a search and found an old thread on epicormic lime growth but there was no mention of when to cut or whether removing very large clumps in one go is advisable. 

 

 

Edited March 15, 2020 by Gimlet

[Stere]

I can't see  that it matters when, so any time i reckon, unless there might be nesting birds......

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest Gimlet]

Good point. Too busy a location for birds I would have thought, but I'll check before proceeding. 

[AJStrees]

To be fair. It is best to cut them back in the dormant season otherwise you do promote further growth of the suckers. Very common with Common Lime The hybrid, Tilia x europaea. I have done it in both growing and dormant and when done in growing you promote further growth and get an even bigger mass of leaves. 

 

I would say do it as early as you can. 

 

 

[Guest Gimlet]

I did wonder about that. It's bad enough now. I don't want to make it worse.

 

If I get the work it won't start til the 1st of May. Probably too late by then. It's a three year contract though so I'll do it at the end of October. 

[Dan Maynard]

I'm a little surprised that summer prune would promote more suckers, it's a thing with apple trees to summer prune epicormic.

I was going to say is there a crown on the tree or are they pollard stems? We have a set of trunks in our churchyard which sprout all over, and to be fair I try to cut them back in winter but the process removes all the stems which have leaves on so think it would be unkind in the summer.

[Guest Gimlet]

No it's not pollarded. Full crown.

[Stere]

Quote

It is best to cut them back in the dormant season otherwise you do promote further growth of the suckers.

Any link to a  reference for this? ?

[Dan Maynard]

In that case I would be thinking the percentage loss of leaf from removing those suckers is going to be quite small in comparison to the rest of the crown so crack on whatever the season.