See all this growth around the base of this crabapple?  They’re called suckers, and they need to be eliminated…which used to be easier said than done…but not any more! Many trees, like this crabapple, have been grafted onto another rootstock, to produce the tree that you see growing up top…and these rootstocks try to re-grow, producing suckers at the base of the tree.  This growth has inferior quality, it detracts from the tree’s beauty, and will zap energy away from the good tree on top.  Sucker growth can also be very susceptible to insect and disease problems.   So it’s important to remove sucker growth whenever it starts.  And in most cases, if you just cut the suckers off at ground level they will grow back even heavier. It can be a never ending garden chore.  Unless you use a product appropriately named “Sucker Stopper”. Sucker Stopper is plant growth regulator.  And when sprayed on small suckers or after pruning the suckers off, will prohibit re-growth for 3-4 months.  Simply remove the suckers as you normally would, then treat those pruned cuts with the Sucker Stopper.  Or if you have small suckers, give them a quick shot, and they’ll stop growing, and actually reduce in size. Now there are a few restrictions for using Sucker Stopper, so as always, read and follow the directions.  And it’s not cheap.  But trust me…the cost is well worth the time it saves you pruning suckers.