Question
I live in the rocky mountains at about 8700 feet.  I have several (both mature
and young) aspen on my property.  The aspens put out voluteers that are
coming up many places I don't want trees (like my flagstone walkway).  How
can I get rid of the voluteers without excessive digging, and without harming
the "mother trees"?  Can I use roundup on them?

Answer
Hi Frank,
Thanx for your question.  Aspens tend to sucker (send out small trees) as you mentioned.  If you try to use Roundup or some other chemical on them, I'm afraid it might harm the parent trees.  The best thing to do is to keep mowing them down while they are small.  I have a beautiful mimosa tree in the back yard that suckers and looks really raggedy sometimes and I am constantly cutting the suckers down.  I guess it is one of the drawbacks of having these trees.  You might check with our Allexpert Tree Expert, Jim Hyland.  I believe he has worked with the Forestry Service and he may have info on this that I don't.  I hope this helps.
Tom