*&$#Z!@?* Aspen has to go..

[1Minute]

OK. It's been a fine tree, but now we're into the uncontrolled Suckerville stage out in the lawn. For the last couple seasons dripped on Glyphosate/RoundUp has knocked back the suckers with out affecting the mother tree or the running roots. Tiring of the battle, so it's time to go to war.

Top kill will be via a saw, and it sounds like the subsequent sucker fight might take a couple growing seasons. The question: Which treatment season would one most likely affect the roots/suckers. Cut tree and immediately herbicide stump in the spring or the same treatments in the fall when sap and nutrients might be going down?
Your thoughts please.

 

[TNTreeHugger]

http://extension.usu.edu/htm/news/articleID=2261
Sorry, this is the best I have to offer.
Hope it helps

Or, this:

"Answer: Aspen trees are relatively short lived which is why they routinely send up suckers, both to colonize an area but also to serve as replacements for the original tree. You can cut or pull the suckers up but there is no way to stop them from growing without compromising the health of the tree. If you were to apply Brush B Gon to the stubs after cutting back the suckers, the chemical could be carried to the roots of the tree and might kill it. The problem with that is that the tree would probably send up hundreds of new suckers while it was dying. A better approach would be to have the tree cut down and the stump and roots ground or dug out of the soil. Simply cutting the tree down will still leave roots in the landscape and those roots will probably send up suckers. So the bottom line is that there is no easy solution to your suckering aspen tree."
http://garden.org/nga/searchqa/answer/76106/

 

[PJM]

The cut-stump herbicide method (what you're proposing) works best when done late summer. Here in NY that time is late august through most of September. You only have to apply the herbicide to the outer few inches of the stump. Should take care of most of the root suckers.