If you’ve landed here googling tree of heaven, you’re probably already in tree of heaven hell. Ailanthus altissima sounds poetic, but this invasive plant is a huge pain to deal with. I’m not a professional arborist or an invasive species expert — just a frustrated gardener trying to figure this out and sharing what I’ve learned.

If you don’t know what a mature tree of heaven looks like, I give you exhibit A below. I took this photo the other night while on my way to pick up dinner. The entire landscape is just full of these trees. They are easy to identify by their compound sawtooth-looking leaves. You’ll spot it thriving around buildings that clearly went out of business and alongside almost every road across the country.

The Situation

Just beyond my backyard fence stands a small copse of mature tree of heaven specimens. They’re scraggly and all different sizes. These trees send out aggressive root systems that sprout everywhere. Every week, more and more pop up in my garden beds, lawn and even in my driveway cracks.

It’s exhausting, discouraging and really overwhelming — especially since ALL of the source trees aren’t even on my property. That makes full eradication extremely unlikely. However, I’ve learned a few things along the way that might help if you’re in the same boat.

What Makes Tree of Heaven So Bad?

• Prolific Reproduction: These trees produce thousands of seeds each year and can sprout from both roots and stumps.
• Allelopathic Effects: They release chemicals that suppress the growth of surrounding plants. They are growing all over my vegetable garden. 🙁
• Hardy Survivors: Cut them, and they grow back stronger. Ignore them, and they’ll take over your yard.
• Root Suckering: Even if the mother tree is yards away, the roots can travel underground and pop up in your flower beds, creating entire colonies.
• Attract invasive insects: Ah, yes, if being a nuisance plant wasn’t enough…it’s a two-for-one deal with Ailanthus altissima being the host plant to the invasive spotted lantern fly. These insects are fairly new to southwest Virginia.

Seedlings vs. Root Suckers

It is important to know the difference between the seedlings and the root suckers coming up from the established trees. While the root suckers are a lost cause, you need to pull every single seedling so that you don’t have any more plants that become established. The key to knowing whether it’s a seedling or not is identifying if it has cotyledon leaves at the base of the plant. Cotyledon leaves are the first leaves that emerge when a seed germinates.

You should pull with steady, even pressure from the base of the plant close to the soil line so that you pull it up with the roots intact. Once pulled, trash the plant material and do not compost it.

What I’m Trying (and What Might Work for You)

This is a long game. There is no quick fix, especially if the source trees are not on your land. But here’s what I’ve learned and tried so far:

1. Don’t just chop it down

Cutting a tree of heaven down without treating it first is a very bad idea. It will respond by sending up a storm of suckers from the roots. Also, if you cut down a tree before treating, it is no longer possible to kill the root system, which is the larger problem. You need the tree intact to be able to treat it with herbicides first, wait for it to take effect and then you can chop it down. Watch this Penn State video starting at the 2:10 mark. You need to apply an herbicide (like triclopyr or glyphosate) using a method called hack and squirt treatment or basal bark treatment. Learn more about these methods from Blue Ridge Prism.

2. Try not to pull the root suckers

Pulling tree-of-heaven root suckers is like playing Whac-A-Mole with a plant that hates you. I hand pull many of the suckers, but it doesn’t solve the problem and likely makes it worse, but I just can’t stand it. When you pull or cut a root sucker, you’re basically poking the bear—it stimulates the parent root system to send up even more shoots. The plant interprets damage as a threat and ramps up its already aggressive colonization. But if I didn’t pull them, I would have mature trees in my garden beds now. It’s a no-win situation.

4. Pull every single seedling

You do not want to allow seedlings to develop a root system and get established. You must hunt for these and pull them. This is why it is important to know which ones are seedlings and which ones are root suckers. Dispose of the material and do not compost it.

3. Talk to the neighbors (if you can)

If the mature trees aren’t on your land, consider reaching out to neighbors or landowners. It’s not always an easy conversation, but sometimes people genuinely don’t know how invasive or damaging these trees are. You might be able to work together on a removal plan.

4. Mulch and smother

In some cases you can try the “smother and mulch” method — layering cardboard and heavy mulch to suppress sunlight and limit sucker growth. It’s not foolproof, but it can help.

The Two-For-One Deal: Tree of Heaven and Spotted Lantern Flies

Aside from ruining my garden and choking out my desired plants, tree of heaven is a host plant for the spotted lanternfly, an invasive pest that wreaks havoc on trees and crops.

I just started seeing the lantern fly nymphs and adults this spring and summer for the first time.

Solidarity, Not Solutions (Yet)

I wish I could conclude by telling you I found the perfect answer and my yard is now tree-of-heaven-free. But I haven’t. What I can say is that you’re not alone and there are ways to slow the spread.

If you’re battling this noxious plant too, I’d love to hear what’s worked (or not worked) for you. Let’s swap stories and tips.

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