Branches appear growing our of ground

[aaronreiff]

Good day - I have a tree in my back yard that appears to be growing branches from underground around the base of the tree. Is this a common occurence or is it the sign of a distressed tree? Any way I can stop it?

Aaron

[bullthistle]

Suckers happen with healthy trees and distressed trees. The best way is to prune off the sucker as far underground as possible and next year they could double.

[Cee_Jay]

They are quite common. They can occur at the root or sometimes even within the canopy (those branches that seem to grow straight as a rod toward the sky). Either type can sap some food energy from the tree. It is best to get rid of them so the tree can focus it's food supply to the branches you desire to keep and it's trunk. And has been stated, be prepared to deal with this every year. Sometimes twice in a growing season.

[Skyemom]

I have a 5 year old Red Maple that's maybe 14 ft tall and this year ( after a very harsh Upstate NY winter) the tree has not produced leaves on the canopy but it's sprouted a bunch of new growth from the ground.

I think this is what you must be calling " suckers" and now some have started to sprout out all the way up the trunk to about 4 ft. So the tree definitely isn't dead yet.

What should I do at this point?
You suggest cutting all of these " suckers" off so the food can get to the top of the tree where I see buds but no leaves.
I hope I this won't harm the tree but it looks weird as it is now.

Also have several oddly shaped upper branches that point straight upward & are about 12"long
I think they must have developed from old off shoots in previous years .
Can I just remove those or do I need to wait until fall?
Thanks !
Liz