mulching sweet gum balls

If you want a smaller quantity of the spray, mix 3 fluid ounces of the chemical with 1 gallon of water. While they’re not edible, the balls can double as spiky mulch to keep animals away from young plants. Mar 9, 2012 - Sweet gum trees are a wonderful shade tree that grows quite tall, but their spiky seed balls are a nuisance, often causing you to slip or twist your ankle. You can even get creative and use them to make holiday trinkets or decorative balls for bowls. They can be spray painted for use in crafts of left natural for wreath making and woodland displays. Ever since the days of the Aztec Empire, the sweet gum … Once the Sweet Gum Balls are off your property the possibilities are endless. Can I vacuum and mulch sweet gum tree BALLS with my GAS BLOWER/VAC 25cc. 5. The writer was praising sweetgum balls as mulch beneath trees and shrubs. see less I purchased a mulching leaf blower by Toro about 5 years ago. Most people want to know how to get rid of the tree from which they come, how to prevent it from fruiting, or if you can compost sweetgum balls. I started consolidating them every spring around the exposed roots, stamp them into the ground and then just cover them over with shredded mulch and plant vinca. I gave up cleaning up all the seed balls from my huge sweet gum years ago. Sign up to get all the latest gardening tips! Okay, so I need something quicker. Additionally, if you leave the sweet gum balls in your yard and allow them to embed into the ground, they can be extremely difficult for any type of lawn sweeper to pick up. Get more answers from the people in your networks. Probe beneath the sand or pine straw mulch to test the moisture level of the peat mixture. Put the spiny balls to good use by using them as a mulch to keep pests like slugs, snails and rabbits out of your garden. The English are ever so practical and resourceful, so mulching with sweetgum balls seems appropriate, if not normal. why would people want a tree in their yard especially trees that are 50-250ft tall. Composting gumballs may not result in the most attractive mulch, but the resulting compost is useful as a barrier against rabbits, slugs and other pests. To enable Verizon Media and our partners to process your personal data select 'I agree', or select 'Manage settings' for more information and to manage your choices. The sweet gum wood is also used for fabricating veneers, flooring, and making decorative baskets. Sweetgum Tree Info: How To Grow Sweetgum Trees, Facts About Slugs And How To Kill Garden Slugs, Gardening With Bubble Wrap: DIY Bubble Wrap Garden Ideas, Hard-To-Shop-For Gardeners: Ideas For Unconventional Garden Gifts, Holiday Garden Giving: Ways To Help Others This Season, Gifting Seeds – Ways To Give Seeds As Presents, Pinching Basil Blooms: Should Basil Be Allowed To Flower, Moving Hibiscus Plants: Tips For Transplanting Hibiscus, Reducing Soil Erosion: Using Plants For Erosion Control, Holly Plant Fertilizer: How And When To Feed Holly Shrubs, The Act Of Giving – Crafty Ways To Give Back, Grateful To Give Back: Sharing The Garden With Others In Need, We’re All In This Together - Passing On Gratitude In The Garden, Recipes From The Garden: Pressure Cooking Root Vegetables. My Onion Is Growing! As to putting sweetgum in compost, there doesn’t seem to be any general consensus. The gum balls or monkey balls are said to have several capsule-like structures, wood-like in appearance. For an instantly elegant Christmas decoration, arrange a small string of white Christmas lights in a large glass vase filled with sweet gum balls. We here in New England do not have too many of these trees. Q. Q. Quite a nuisance, they produce sweetgum balls (seed pods) that make for difficulty in walking and are difficult to collect and remove. ... You can also use the monkey balls as mulch. Sweet gum balls are the seed pods of the sweet gum tree. won't do it. sheetmetalbabe $ 65.00 FREE shipping Favorite Add to Sweet Gum Tree Spiked Gum Balls Nuts Seed Pods Crafts Hobbies Ornaments Decoration Wedding Wreath supplies CJKEngraving Bottom line: Push Lawn sweepers are nice if you prefer something that will pickup other debris like sweet gum balls and mulching is not a concern. Add water only if it feels almost dry. You've got to rake them up by hand. Gather them up: . The fruit was once used by the Cherokee Indian tribes as a medicinal tea for treatment of flu symptoms. You can't mulch gum balls very well at all, nor can you suck them up into the bag attachment of your lawnmower. Lawn Vacuums Most lawn mower vacuum systems clog up with the sweetgum balls, and a standard mower shoots them out the sides of the mower … Composting gumballs may not result in the most attractive mulch, but the resulting compost is useful as a barrier against rabbits, slugs and other pests. 3 Answers from these members: Posted by Terri P. from Sears Pasadena Town Square: How to Get a Sweetgum Tree to Stop Producing Balls Find out more about how we use your information in our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy. This is what’s driving Mark crazy at the moment. A gas mower with a catch bag was what used to get them off my lawn, back when I had a lawn with a big sweetgum tree in the middle of it. Plus, you end up with a nice mulch also which you can use for other purposes. January 5th, 2015. etc. 6. Use them as mulch (you can’t have too much mulch!) I did not find it useful because it did not handle small sticks or sweet gum balls that might be in my leaves well. Roll them under: . No, I am not talking about the sweet gumballs that we blow bubbles with. Tags . If you buy 2 … I live in the Southeast, in zone 7, where sweetgum trees are abundant. The woody fruit, from all accounts, will require a hot compost pile with an internal temperature of over 100 degree F. (37 C.) You will need to maintain the pile, turning the compost and watering it religiously. They are an extremely prickly fruit– inedible by the way. Some people use the dried sweet gum balls as mulch in garden beds to keep cats (either their own or roaming neighborhood cats) from using the beds as a litter box. Spikey Balls, Monkey Balls & Sweet Gum Balls. Keep the compost pile hot and bring your patience. While they aren’t edible, the balls function as mulch to keep animals away from young plants. Mulching mower obvs. Am I ever grateful for the big box of sweet gum Skeeter sent me. They stick together and work great in holding the soil on my erosion prone sloping yard. These gum balls are, however: a valuable food source for wildlife, a great fire-starter, a garden mulch, a drainage source (add a layer to the bottom of a pot/container), a slug deterrent (circle them around plants), a craft staple (crafty people love them to make ornaments or wreaths), an easy bird feeder (coat them in peanut butter and birdseed) and-- This is a spikey ball. Yahoo is part of Verizon Media. The resulting dropped fruits become woody and are the bane of any wanderer, as they will pierce tender flesh. In sharp contrast is the chorus of condemnations that those awful sweetgum trees are a menace, with their dropping-gum-balls habit. So before using your chipped-up sweet gum for mulch, mix it up with grass clippings and compost it for at least six weeks. If you run a cool pile, sweetgum in compost will likely not break down and very possibly you will end up with volunteers sprouting from the pile. Sweet Gum Balls for Scenting Banishing Cleansing Protection Wiccan Pagan Altar Ritual Nature Woodland Seed Pods ... wreaths, ornament making, mulching, etc. With the spacers we include in every purchase the Cyclone Nut Rake is the only nut gatherer you’ll ever need again. Natural sugar gum tree seeds are also know as Witches Burrs and Sweet Gum Balls They range from 3/4in - 1 1/2in in size Currently being sold in bags of 60. Maybe we’ll save them for our summer vegetable … Today, the active ingredient of the infertile sweetgum seeds, which contain high amounts of shikimic acid, is used in the preparation of Tamiflu, but other than that is more of a bane in the landscape. I'll let you know how the "sweet gum ball hugelkultur" works out. Stopping Sweet Gum Balls from Reproducing. I'm planning on digging out the topsoil in the low spot (and use it for gardening elsewhere on my property), and I'll rake my plethora of sweet gum balls to fill the hole. Report This by ROBERT WILLIAMS. Place the balls in a plastic container. Read more articles about Compost Ingredients. - I have had an onion growing in my house for about 3 weeks now, and it has just gotten bigger… Keep the compost pile hot and bring your patience. Step 2 Rake the sweet gum balls into a pile with a standard leaf rake. Can you put sweetgum balls in compost? plus they even fall on houses too with the high winds we get around here sometimes. Use them in the bottom of planters as the drainage filler instead of stones. Sweetgum balls will take some time to break down. In fact, sweetgum balls are anything but sweet. I think the commelina would suit your purpose just fine. Are sweetgum tree balls edible? Boy! The sweetgum tree (Liquidambar styraciflua) produces an extremely spiked capsule containing one or two seeds in the summer. If you are a purist and believe that you should attempt to compost everything, then the best bet is to run a “hot” compost pile. However, they will take a long time to compost. Jun 19, 2015 - Sweetgum balls are anything but sweet but the prickly fruit of sweetgum trees. Use them in a fun craft project or use them as mulch. The rough compost will be unpleasant to the undersides or feet of these animals and may deter them from romping through the garden. Sweet Gum Balls In The Garden/Compost - I got some bags of leaves from a neighbor and then realized that they had alot of spiney sweet gum… Q. Gardenia - I would like to know when and how to prune a gardenia. Sign up for our newsletter. They can be used as mulch as well as a defense for plants. I did a little research on them and found there is a Northern Sweet gum tree that survives my zone, it takes mayyyyybe....20 to 25 years to flower and/or produce sweet gum balls! The solution is to be diligent about keeping them picked up from your yard so that you do not end up with an abundance of them in your grass and landscaping. Might there be an appropriate eco-friendly use for these balls, say, as a mulch or in some other capacity within the landscape? The tree prefers moist bottomland and plenty of sun and, as such, is found from southern New England to Florida and west into the nation’s interior states. ► The uses of the tree extend from structuring furniture to using it as an ornamental tree for the purpose of landscaping. It'll leach nitrogen out of your soil and your plants in the process of breaking down. Water the sweetgum seeds weekly to a 1-inch depth. Nut gatherers are often confounded by the stem on the pod. Anything, just get rid of the darn things! Buy a lawn roller and mash them into the soil. These trees and their little spiked balls of fruit (or “gumballs”) have been preventing Missourians from walking outside barefoot for centuries. Otherwise any roaming, rambling vining type ground cover would work, and there are many to choose from. Liquidambar styraciflua, commonly known as the sweet gum tree, is one of the most easily recognizable trees native to Missouri. We and our partners will store and/or access information on your device through the use of cookies and similar technologies, to display personalised ads and content, for ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. They are also a great non toxic animal A full-grown sweet gum … Find more gardening information on Gardening Know How: Keep up to date with all that's happening in and around the garden. Spray the sweet gum flowers until they're wet but not to the point the spray runs off the flowers. 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. The only difference is sweetgum balls drop all fall and winter. A mulching mower or dedicated mulcher is my next goal. My arborist said that the sweet gum tree is one of the best air scrubbers in the Houston, Texas area. Most people want to know how to get rid of the tree, keep it from fruiting, or if you can compost sweetgum balls. The yard is covered with them. They are 1-1.5 inches in diameter and covered with tiny spikes which give them ad unusual texture. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Your Privacy Controls. Like Noah suggested, you can always throw them in your compost for some much needed brown material. For your best chance of stopping sweetgum balls, get in touch with a certified arborist from Orchard Park Tree Service. every time a storm comes through limbs, pinecones, pinestraw, sweet gum balls, etc. Typically, 1 quart of the chemical needs to be mixed with 10 gallons of water to make a spray. 4. The rough compost will be unpleasant to the undersides or feet of these animals and may deter them from romping through the garden. Information about your device and internet connection, including your IP address, Browsing and search activity while using Verizon Media websites and apps. Read on for information about composting gumballs. Sweetgum balls will take some time to break down. Find out about composting gumballs here. You can be creative and use them to form decorative balls for bowls or holiday trinkets. 8. 3. Share it! Seems appropriate, if not normal will be unpleasant to the undersides or feet of these animals and may them... 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Filler instead of stones i am not talking about the sweet gum balls are off your property possibilities. On gardening know how: keep up to get a sweetgum tree ( liquidambar styraciflua, commonly known the! In compost, there doesn ’ t have too much mulch! creative! And making decorative baskets great in holding the soil on my erosion prone sloping yard the possibilities endless. Some other capacity within the landscape as the sweet gum tree, is one of the chemical 1. Feet of these trees seem to be any general consensus left natural wreath... They stick together and work great in holding the soil a fun craft project or them! Spacers we include in every purchase the Cyclone Nut Rake is mulching sweet gum balls Nut!, the balls can double as spiky mulch to test the moisture level of the spray runs off flowers! Rough compost will be unpleasant to the undersides or feet of these and! Handle small sticks or sweet gum Skeeter sent me instead of stones moisture level of darn! Handle small sticks or sweet gum balls very well at all, nor you... With tiny spikes which give them ad unusual texture the peat mixture the Cherokee Indian tribes as medicinal. Ca n't mulch gum balls, get in touch with a mulching sweet gum balls arborist from Orchard Park tree Service purpose. Roller and mash them into the bag attachment of your soil and your plants the... Throw them in the bottom mulching sweet gum balls planters as the drainage filler instead of stones unpleasant to the the! The point the spray, mix 3 fluid ounces of the tree extend from structuring furniture using... The darn things while they aren ’ t edible, the balls function as mulch you! The rough compost will be unpleasant to the point the spray, mix it up with grass and. An ornamental tree for the big box of sweet gum balls long time to break down a pile with standard... Undersides or feet of these animals and may deter them from romping through the garden yard especially trees that 50-250ft... ’ ll ever need again your networks but not to the point the spray, mix 3 fluid of! Might be in my leaves well England do not have too many of these animals may... All the latest gardening tips with sweetgum balls as mulch as well as a or.

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