Sweet Gum Tree Balls Inside

When do sweetgum tree balls fall.

Sweet gum tree balls inside. The vicious seed pods have impaled many a forager and has done much to ruin the sweet gum s reputation. The spiky clusters are actually balls of fruit with tiny seeds inside that birds and squirrels snack on. You painfully find them with your feet. The sweet gum tree is the sand spur of the forest.

By mid fall the balls are dead and seedless. The only difference is sweetgum balls drop all fall and winter. The sweetgum tree liquidambar styraciflua produces an extremely spiked capsule containing one or two seeds in the summer. Department of agriculture plant hardiness zones.

As previously mentioned sweetgum balls are the fruit of a medium to large size tree 65 155 feet tall with a trunk up to 6 feet across that can live for an extremely long time up to 400 years. Additionally the sweet gum s spiky gum balls hang conspicuously from the tree s smaller branches sometimes all winter. The best method for removing sweetgum balls from the lawn. The only edible part of the tree is the dried sap.

Bag a nut plucks the sweet gum balls out of the grass like magic. Draw up tightly to form a circle and tie a knot then form a loop for the hanger. String the balls on either a piece of heavy nylon fishing line or a piece of beading wire. Just like leaves they must fall so the tree can prep for new growth.

Perhaps it is time for some rehabilitation. The sweetgum liquidambar styracifua is a tall elegantly shaped tree that grows in u s. Chemical treatments however can stop a tree s fruit production which keeps the lawn free of that litter. Summer shade and vibrant fall leaf color are merits of the sweet gum tree liquidambar styraciflua.

Using a 1 16th inch drill bit drill a hole completely through each gumball. Round spiny fruits or balls that litter the ground making a simple walk across the yard a precarious one. Don t cut down your sweet gum trees or spend a ton of money on a lawn vacuum.