Popping up all over my lawn

[dmonn]

The guy's are taking over my lawn. They're growing way faster than the grass. Any idea what they are and/or how to get rid of them? There are a few dozen rotten trees stumps in the yard, and would their root system be the source?

 

[Matias]

Certainly appears like rhizomonous growth. though not like any tree we have here.

 

[data farm 26]

Agreed, some kind of populus. Cwood probably, maybe aspen?

 

[Matias]

That was gonna be my guess too, but the leaf is different from our local populus so I would mostly be guessing

 

[evo]

What Levi said.. I’ll just throw in Lombardy for good measure.

 

[bobs yeruncle]

when you crush the buds/young leaves do they smell like a christmas tree?

 

[TreeCo]

Could it be:

Chinese tallow: Popcorn tree?

Chinese Tallow | National Invasive Species Information Center

Species Profile: Chinese Tallow. Crowds out native species (McCormick 2005)

www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov

 

[Steve-o]

Lookslike the poplar trees that sprout on my lawn every year along with the oaks and hickory. Keep mowing, they'll go away..

 

[flushcut]

I have about a dozen baby oaks that I mow around. Three of them are foot tall or slightly bigger. I figured let them grow and I can transplant them later if they live past the bunnies and deer.

 

[Bart_]

I once planted oak acorns and had about 10 seedlings. They got to about 10" high when a squirrel dug them out, nipped off the top, exposed the acorn and then didn't take the acorn. Squirrel did it in two sessions over two days killed every tree. So then I build a mesh cage the next year. Squirrel found a gap and rinse repeat. So then I played Johnny Appleseed with the next year's overwintered acorns and wandered the local ravine and nature land with a small pick randomly planting acorns. Maybe a few survived.

un-mowing derail : )

I've seen locust roots send up copious shoots after tree removal. Mow is the fix

 

[dmonn]

I'm assuming that with rhizomonous growth, poisoning would kill any mature trees connected to the sprouts. I definitely don't want that to happen. We have a beautiful stand of Aspen adjacent to the lawn, and some poplars not too far away. Also some cottonwood. We bought the property less than a year ago so don't know what kind of trees were cut down in what's now lawn. Continued mowing sounds like the safest route to do. Right?

 

[flushcut]

Yeah keep mowing. Definitely mowing. Ten minutes to Wapner. Uh-oh Vern, V-e-r-n!
Sorry I had one of those days my mind is mush.

 

[Chris Schultz]

I’ll put my money on cottonwood.

 

[moss]

What Levi said.. I’ll just throw in Lombardy for good measure.

A clearer photo of a leaf sample would help.

The leaf shape matches Lombardy Poplar, Populus nigra well. Eastern Cottonwood, P. deltoides with a very similar leaf is a bit toothier on the leaf margins than P. nigra.

P. deltoides and P. nigra have an "acuminate" leaf shape, "Gradually tapering to a sharp point and forming concave sides along the tip".

Quaking Aspen, P. tremuloides has a more compact rounded shape, does not have acuminate shape.

Lombardy Poplar is well known to aggressively colonize lawns and disturbed areas by root sprouts. A cut-down Eastern Cottonwood will do the same. If it matters to you a little more study required to verify one or the other.
-AJ