Years ago, before my time, someone thought it a good idea to plant staghorn sumac because pretty colors. When we cut one of them down, year before last, shit started hitting the fan. Saplings began appearing all over the lawn a while later and I realized there was a network of rhizomes under the grass that sprout these when the main tree is stressed or cut down. Just cutting those fuckers makes the situation worse. After researching eradication tips, I ended up using a two-handled draw knife to cut away the bark down to the bare wood. Cut away an appx. 5 inch wide strip almost all the way around the circumference close to the ground. Been told it's very important to not make a complete ring but leave a strip about 5 percent of the circumference intact. That way the tree doesn't "notice" that it's about to be killed and doesn't create as many saplings as it would otherwise. This limits the amount of nutrients that can be transported down into the rhizome network. The German word for this process is "Ringeln". I wonder what it is called in English, anyone know? I still had to keep an eye on the inevitable saplings and eradicate six gorillion of them with prejudice. Now it's about six months later and the test tree is visibly weaker, compared to its brethren. https://pic8.co/sh/tKaPvF.jpg "Laugh it up now", I think to myself, "I'll come for you next".