Cherry Question
We have a 12' choke cherry tree in what is considered 80% MY shrub garden. (Generally my wife has taken to perennials, vegetables and expansion; I've taken to trees, shrubs, landscaping (to keep up with my wife's expansion plans) and water). The year after we moved in we decided the cherry had to be tamed or removed because it was in front of the house. Five years later it is trained to a weeping design, and has become a terrific focal point of that grouping and the yard. The birds use it as a staging area for the feeder and birdbath and at some point robins discover the cherries every year and go nuts.
Because it is pruned fairly heavily, there's a tendency for it to produce many suckers growing out of its base root system close to the main trunk. Saplings are easy to yank out, but these suckers have to be cut pretty frequently. Its is a maintenance problem and could ultimately be an entry point to disease. If I wrap the base with landscape cloth and mulch heavily will the suckers whither and die? Or will they simply push their way through because they are attached to the main tree and keep coming? Thoughts?
Cut Flower Tip:
Not sure where I got this, but it works really well. Before you take cut flowers into the house, set them in water and leave them outside for about an hour. For whatever reason, the bugs will abandon the cut flowers en masse. This has worked wonderfully for us, and makes for a much happier dinner centerpiece.
Bill C.