Tree of Heaven (or hell?)

Hi everyone,

I think we have a Tree of Heaven sprouting up in our front yard. I believe our neighbor had one of these, but has since cut it down. His tree was quite tall, but I'm not sure why he took it down. We also have Staghorn Sumacs, which also send up shoots, so I'm used to that. The Tree of Heaven is coming up right where I've wanted a tree, so that's why I'm torn. I've been reading the info page on it, and it doesn't seem to be very popular. I think a lot of the negatives are regarding the shoots, but some also say that the tree stinks.

My question is, would I be completely insane if I let the tree grow? I really want a tree there, but not if it's going to destroy other plants and make my life miserable. The Sumacs already get on my nerves, but I've come to terms with them, because they grow fast and are pretty in the Fall. I forgot to mention that we don't have a lot of trees in the front yard now, so the Sumacs have actually been a small blessing. I just pull out the ones I don't want.

I'm pretty sure the Sumac will eventually make it's way to the same area as the Tree of Heaven. Should I wait on the Sumac, and take out the Tree of Heaven while I still can? It's only about 3 inches tall at this point. Oh, and the tree is directly under power lines. Judging by the height of the neighbor's tree, I think that might be a problem?

Thanks for your input.

The picture on the left is the one I mentioned, and the one on the right is one I need to take out by the fence. Do these look like Tree of Heaven?

Yes, they are.

Resin

I know of no redeeming features to a tree of heaven, other than rapid growth.
I'd get rid of it (if you can) and plant something nice!

It's actually a very nice tree in the right place.

Difficulty is, the right place is in China . . .

Resin

G'Day
I had trouble with suckers from a neighbours Tree Of Heaven and they got worse when he removed the parent. I had to carefully dab each sucker as it appeared with "Roundup". This worked and the chemical was translocated back through the roots and even killed some suckers near where the parent tree had been.
Brian

I'm still pulling up suckers 4 years after cutting down a tree of heaven.
Like Brian's experience, the sucker explosion started after cutting the tree down.
They come up hundreds of feet from the original tree.
Must be a remarkable root system.
Maybe it's time for the Round-Up method.

Thanks for all the input, I used Round-Up on the 3 shoots I have found so far. *crossing fingers*

I've been fighting with the Tree of Heaven (so inappropriate a name) for years now, thanks to a neighbor whose property is lined with mature specimens that are at least 60' tall. So yes, a site under a power line would be a serious problem, not to mention all the other problems that come with this beast. The females produce a flower that has the delightful aroma of rancid peanut butter, then thousands and thousands of seeds; the seeds can lie dormant for many years, and continue to sprout when and where you least want them. The tree's roots are toxic to many other plants, and their root system is amazingly widespread. When you cut them down, they sprout a multitude of root suckers, cutting these produces more suckers, and the circle goes on and on. I try very hard to garden organically, but herbicide is the only thing that works with this monster; all the environmentally friendly approaches just produce more trees. RoundUp was not very effective for me; it wilted a bit, but wasn't killed. I found I needed to use products based on triclopyr, like BrushBGone, to really kill the beast. Good luck, colliwobbles, and keep spraying periodically until you're quite sure they're dead.

Thanks for the info spartacusaby. The shoots are wilting for sure, but I'll keep checking on them. I looked around the yard to see if there were more, and nothing so far. I can't imagine the war that's going on underground between the Sumac and Tree of Heaven roots.

I was curious about the smell, so I clipped some leaves before spraying. To me, they smelled like very faint burnt popcorn, but I can see it as peanut butter also.

I agree the smell is very distinctive, but not necessarily offensive.
I always know when I've pulled a tree of heaven shoot, because of the distinctive smell.

LOL, colliwobbles, I'm surprised the ground isn't shaking from that below-ground root contest. I'd put my money on the Tree of Heaven. When we first started gardening, we had a huge area (probably 30' x 20') where absolutely nothing would thrive and I couldn't understand it: full sun, nice drainage, lots of rainfall here, etc. Then I learned about ailanthus roots' toxicity to other plants, and it suddenly made sense; the adult Trees of Heaven I was starting to battle were adjacent to that dead zone. It took a couple of years of regular hack & squirt treatment to kill those adults; when they were finally dead and gone, we were at last able to plant successfully in that area.

I never found the smell of Tree of Heaven foliage too bad, either; it's the flowers that truly reek. Since the adult trees were growing in the rural drainage swale at the entrance to our driveway, it was a real in-your-face welcome home when mama tree flowered.