Water sprouts are shoots that arise from the trunk of a tree or from branches that are several years old, from latent bud

Bud

In botany, a bud is an undeveloped or embryonic shoot and normally occurs in the axil of a leaf or at the tip of the stem. Once formed, a bud may remain for some time in a dormant condition, or it may form a shoot immediately. Buds may be specialized to develop flowers or short shoots, or may have...

s. The latent buds might be visible on the bark of the tree, or submerged under the bark as epicormic buds

Epicormic shoot

An epicormic shoot is a shoot growing from an epicormic bud which lies underneath the bark of a trunk, stem, or branch of a plant.-Epicormic buds:...

. They are sometimes called suckers, although that term is more correctly applied to shoots that arise from below ground. Vigorous upright water sprouts often develop in response to damage or pruning

Pruning

Pruning is a horticultural practice involving the selective removal of parts of a plant, such as branches, buds, or roots. Reasons to prune plants include deadwood removal, shaping , improving or maintaining health, reducing risk from falling branches, preparing nursery specimens for...

.

The structure of water-sprout regrowth is not as strong as natural tree growth, and the shoots are more subject to diseases and pests. A system of principles of pruning considers this type of shoot undesirable on orchard trees because very little fruit is produced on them, or on trees with the strong upright growth that can result from such shoots.

Vigorous water sprouts are useful as scions in grafting

Grafting

Grafting is a horticultural technique whereby tissues from one plant are inserted into those of another so that the two sets of vascular tissues may join together. This vascular joining is called inosculation...

 by top-working.

See also

• Basal shoot
  Basal shoot
  A basal shoot, root sprout, adventitious shoot, water sprout or sucker is a shoot or cane which grows from a bud at the base of a tree or shrub or from its roots. This shoot then becomes, or takes the form of, a singular plant. A plant that produces suckers is referred to as surculose...
  
  s, also called suckers
• Epicormic shoot
  Epicormic shoot
  An epicormic shoot is a shoot growing from an epicormic bud which lies underneath the bark of a trunk, stem, or branch of a plant.-Epicormic buds:...
  
  , shoots that develop from buds under the bark
• Adventitiousness, shoots that develop in unusual places
• Apical dominance
  Apical dominance
  In plant physiology, apical dominance is the phenomenon whereby the main central stem of the plant is dominant over other side stems; on a branch the main stem of the branch is further dominant over its own side branchlets....
  
  , dominance of the main central stem of a plant
• Coppicing
  Coppicing
  Coppicing is a traditional method of woodland management which takes advantage of the fact that many trees make new growth from the stump or roots if cut down. In a coppiced wood, young tree stems are repeatedly cut down to near ground level...
  
   a method of woodland management
• Pollarding
  Pollarding
  Pollarding is a pruning system in which the upper branches of a tree are removed, promoting a dense head of foliage and branches. It has been common in Great Britain and Europe since medieval times and is practiced today in urban areas worldwide, primarily to maintain trees at a predetermined...
  
  , a pruning system in which the upper branches of a tree are removed