You say, common, not all trees are good? You may not have noticed but a new “tree” in town has shown up over the last 10 years. While I knew it was new to town, I had become blind to how much it was spreading and what a problem its going to cause. I’m speaking about Ailanthus Altissima or Tree-of-Heaven. This medium size tree can reach 75′ in height and up to twenty four inches in diameter. This tree has actually been in “town” for a while but it sure has found its mojo lately. The tree is from China and was brought to America in 1784 by a Pennsylvania gardener. If you scrape the bark or crush the leaf you will get a foul odor. A female Ailanthus tree can produce 325,000 seeds each year. Once firmly established the tree will release a toxin in the soil that will keep other trees out.
What makes this tree different than most is its ability to become established in existing timber stands without the aid of a timber harvest or site disturbance. You will likely find it on your field edges and popping up in your fields. This species of tree readily spreads by root suckers. I have had several clients this year who are starting to have problems because it can overtake areas and become the dominate species. Its not marketable and is weak.
So how do you get rid of it? Not by cutting it down. You’ll only make it mad. Remember, it has root suckers and others will quickly move in to take its place. It has to be killed all the way to the root system. This requires chemicals to be successful.
I have had some success personally with high strength (2-5%) Roundup but my tree of heaven problem is minor and I kill single trees as I find them. Most people use Garlon 3a, Garlon 4, Pathway or Arsenal to treat the bark or stumps just after cutting. In most cases, you have to do a follow up the next year to get all of them.
next time you are at your property, don’t be surprised if you start to notice these trees. Just don’t wait until you have a lot of them to do something about it.
