Sweet Gum Tree Balls

For the best chance of stopping the sweetgum balls hire a certified arborist.

Sweet gum tree balls. Sweet gum is one of the main valuable forest trees in the southeastern united states and is a popular ornamental tree in temperate climates. Plastic tree decoration for candle flame. Red beads artificial snow. The spiky seed pods of the sweetgum tree are a nuisance to many gardeners.

The sweetgum liquidambar styracifua is a tall elegantly shaped tree that grows in u s. The barbs are carried to new locations when they latch onto animals fur. Sweet gum balls are the seeds that fall from sweet gum trees. The spiky gum balls of the sweet gum tree are annoying to anyone who steps on them.

These seeds are often called porcupine balls because they are covered in small barbs. If your sweet gum is too tall to spray or if you don t want to attempt spraying a small tree you can stop fruit production by having a certified arborist administer a trunk injection. Ribbon or wooden bow. The sweet gum tree a forty foot tall sweet gum tree rises from the northeast corner of my back yard.

It is currently classified in the plant family altingiaceae but was formerly considered a member of the hamamelidaceae. Arbormax tree service in raleigh injecting trees with snipper to eliminate sweet gum ball development. Getting back to ashley s question using injections on your sweetgum tree is tricky because the timing has to be just right. The best method for removing sweetgum balls from the lawn.

Department of agriculture plant hardiness zones. This plant s genus. Isa certified arborist instructs installation and application of snipper deflowering agent. All you need to do is clean them off with compressed air and they are.

Then the flowers drop preventing the balls from ever forming. A tree that is a candidate for the injection must have a trunk at least 2 inches in diameter and the tree cannot have received a spray or soil treatment within two weeks. 1 16th inch drill bit. The tree is beautiful and offers lots of shade so i wouldn t mind keeping it but we absolutely detest the spiny little balls that are covering our back yard.

On this early spring day the tree is still a skeleton although leaf buds are just beginning to emerge and dozens of sweet gum balls dangle from its naked branches like shriveled christmas tree ornaments. Many people think of sweet gum balls as a nuisance but they can be used to make many types of crafts. The certified arborist will inject the. It is recognizable by the combination of its five pointed star shaped leaves and its hard spiked fruits.

Sweet gum seed pods this wreath takes 6 8 sweet gum balls white chenille stem. Nylon fishing line or beading wire. But in flu season they re also a source of homemade tamiflu. It is theoretically possible to eliminate the balls each year but it is a difficult process.