Bill, I'm sure where else Sweet Gum Trees grow but we have them here in
Northern Alabama.
Here is a description of the tree:
www.assateague.com/gum.html
I couldn't find a good picture of the gum ball itself except for this one:
http://www.jacquelinemay.com/images/Sweet_Gum_Ball.html
When I did a search for sweet gum balls I found that folks are using
chemicals to inhibit the bloom of the tree to avoid getting the balls :(
We have had enormous number of the little balls all over the place
until a very small tornado took down the tree next to our driveway. The
tree had bent over in the a storm and was hanging right over my van with
branches brushing the van. I didn't have a key to move the van and said
goodbye to it as I ran to the basement. Suddenly a very small tornado came
along and whipped the tree backwards so that it crashed to the ground
parallel to the van instead of on it! (By then I was hovering in the
basement with my children.)
I sometimes wish the darn tree HAD hit the van. It was a 95 windstar
and the engine blew just after that event. It was fixed for free by the
dealership because it had been recalled but it never really was fixed.
The tree has been down for 5 years and is still as solid as iron.
He
retards
moisture
This tree grows in zone 5, Idaho, where we call it Liquidambar or sweet
gum. Botanic name is Liquidambar styraciflua. Margaret L
I always thought that I heard everything about gardening but I have never
heard of gum ball mulch. Would someone please explain what a gbm is.
Bill
Albany, NY
leaving
> them in long windrows in our spotty, weedy lawn, with intention of
> collecting them for the compost pile (they provide good aeration). He
> didn't have time to do this, and neither did I. Today he showed me
how
> the
> grass in the gum ball windrows was taller, thicker, and greener than
> elsewhere in that section of the lawn.
> Could something as dry and "brown" as old gum balls, plus associated
lawn
> litter, produce such an effect, and in 3-4 weeks?
> It's possible. I've noticed similar effects when other lawn debris is
left
> on the lawn for a short time. Could be the fact that the debris retards
> evaporation, or maybe its slow decay releases composty type stuff into
the
In a message dated 4/7/03 10:50:42 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
wjp1816@NYCAP.RR.COM writes:
<< I always thought that I heard everything about gardening but I have never
heard of gum ball mulch. Would someone please explain what a gbm is.
Bill
Albany, NY >>
I think it's a seed pod from a sweet gum tree, which we don't have here in NY.
Mary Ann
Kingston, NY
Yes it is a beautiful tree, sometimes called Star Maple, although no relation to
a maple. They have 5 lobed leaves and turn a glorious color in the fall.
susan
Mary Ann Mikulski wrote:
Wow, I am so happy that you guys are talking about this gum ball tree! I
am redoing the front yard of my parents home. And in one corner of
their yard this enormous gum ball tree is dividing my folks property and
their next door neighbor. Out of frustration my father tried to bring
the tree down throughout the years. You see, this tree is so enormous
(I'd see easily 80 feet in length)that it shades anything in that area.
Anything that they try to grow in their front yard does not get enough
light as a result of this tree. After numerous failed attempts at
planting shade loving plants such as Hostas and Bleeding Hearts at the
foot of the tree he decided to just do away with the tree. I had no
idea that this is what he was trying to do until my parents asked me to
re-do their front yard. In fact, for the past couple of years I've been
collecting the prickly balls and tossing them into my compost. It takes
them forever to breakdown, but like most everything that comes from the
soil, this too decomposes.
Needless to say, when I heard about my dad's attempts at killing this
lovely tree I was horrified. So instead, I spent the day (yesterday)
pruning the tree. We hired a tree specialist that trimmed the tree
nicely and opened up lots of sky space for us. Now that the front has
morning shade and afternoon sun I have to figure out what I'm going to
plant there. I'm thinking of improving the soil which I started doing
already, by tossing loads and loads of compost on top of that area.
There is a hydrangea smack in the middle of that yard that I need to
figure out what to do with. So far, I just pruned it literally 5" from
the soil! I'm thinking of planting a hosta skirt around the hydrangia,
a hosta and white bleeding hearts around the tree bottom would look
nicely but I'm not sure if anything will grow at the bottom of the gum
ball tree...does anyone know?
Mariana
Brooklyn, NYC 6b
<>-----Original Message-----
<>From: Organic Gardening Discussion List [mailto:OGL@LSV.UKY.EDU] On
Behalf
<>Of Laura McKenzie
<>Sent: Monday, April 07, 2003 11:18 AM
<>To: OGL@LSV.UKY.EDU
<>Subject: Re: gum ball mulch, effect on grass ??
<>
<>Bill, I'm sure where else Sweet Gum Trees grow but we have them here
in
<>Northern Alabama.
<>
<> Here is a description of the tree:
<>www.assateague.com/gum.html
<>
Oh YEAH! Sweet Gum balls in the garden to keep cats out is a great idea.
Those little things are like hitting barbed wire :) I have to admit I like
to running barefoot around the yard now.
All the rest of my sweet gums are out in the forest. They are a beautiful
color in the fall.
one:
> http://www.jacquelinemay.com/images/Sweet_Gum_Ball.html
> $1600 for a *picture* of a gum ball!
> One year a woman from the Gardening Club asked for a handful to add to
some
placed
> in empty areas of flower beds deter the cats from digging. I prefer the
gum
Mariana wrote:
> but I'm not sure if anything will grow at the bottom of the gum
> ball tree...does anyone know?
We have lots of them on our property, mostly in the wooded sections. The
ones that are free-standing around the lawn areas don't, as it happens, have
anything growing under them other than our motley lawn. So I'm not in a
position to answer whether anything *can* grow under them.
Pat
P.S. to Bille and Bill: I assume you have discovered by now that I wasn't
talking about chewing gumballs!
Laura wrote:
> I couldn't find a good picture of the gum ball itself except for this one:
> http://www.jacquelinemay.com/images/Sweet_Gum_Ball.html
$1600 for a *picture* of a gum ball!
One year a woman from the Gardening Club asked for a handful to add to some
dried arrangement she was making. Jeez, I shoulda charged her at least $1
apiece....
> When I did a search for sweet gum balls I found that folks are using
> chemicals to inhibit the bloom of the tree to avoid getting the balls :(
Too bad; awful actually.
Besides providing aeration in the compost piles, small piles of them placed
in empty areas of flower beds deter the cats from digging. I prefer the gum
balls to holly leaves for this purpose. Anyone whose hand has ever been
pierced by a dried holly leaf will understand why.
Pat
Carol wrote:
[re: sweet gum]
> It's a coastal plant from south of Connecticut way south, second only to
oak as a
> hardwood. Wish I had a seed; I'd try to grow one. Huge leaves somewhat
like a maple.
They're lovely trees. There are cultivars that don't drop the horribly
spiky seedpods as well.
The sweetgum, aka liquidambar (Liquidambar styraciflua) is a lovely tree.
It grows largely in USDA Zones 6-9, and as stated before, is possessed of
glorious autumn color. See here:
http://www.floridata.com/ref/l/liquidam.cfm
Jason
Laura wrote:
> Oh YEAH! Sweet Gum balls in the garden to keep cats out is a great idea.
> Those little things are like hitting barbed wire :) I have to admit I like
> to running barefoot around the yard now.
bees in the clover keep us from going barefoot in the grass, so the sweet
gum balls aren't a problem in that regard (sigh)
Pat
It's a coastal plant from south of Connecticut way south, second only to oak as a hardwood. Wish I had a seed; I'd try to grow one. Huge leaves somewhat like a maple.
Carol
Jason Quick wrote:
We have lots of them here, including various cultivars which turm
different colours in Autumn, but I cannot recollect any gumballs, so I
guess these are all the sterile kinds Jason mentions.
I wonder if the gumballs are as prickly as the sweet chestnuts which
also do well here and certainly fruit. I wouldn't like to tread on one
of those barefooted.
Carol, if they are hardy in USA zones 6-9 I should think you could grow
one, but I wonder if your garden space would be big enough. As others
have said they are pretty big trees. (I don't have one myself - just
sdmire other people's).
One of my friends had one in her front garden until a drunken driver
drove through their front fence one night and damged it too badly to
save!
Moira
--
Tony & Moira Ryan,
Wainuiomata, North Island, NZ. Pictures of our garden at:-
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/cherie1/Garden/TonyandMoira/index.htm
My daughter is moving out to her boyfriend in the summer vacation, so I will have more space. Of course it is too large aesthetically, I agree! I could put it right in the center of the backyard (planting a seed) and go right on gardening, then move to Copenhagen in 9 years...
Carol
