Where to Plant a Sweet Gum Tree Due to the sheer size of sweet gum trees, they should be planted in large landscapes, avoiding overhead obstructions, such as wires, to prevent any damage to the tree or its surroundings. Its heavy fruit production can cause headaches for homeowners who must rake up the balls. (Wikipedia / Creative Commons). It was a beautiful shade tree but the sweet gum balls and leaves were just too much! The tree also serves as host plant for more than 30 species of moths and butterflies. In the fall, little holes appear in the ripe fruits to release the seeds. It easily takes on staining, painting and is moderately easy to shape and bore. The wood has a unique reddish brown color with sapwood that's nearly white and black grain running through the hardwood. The sweet gum grows in a long list of states, thinning to a more patchy distribution as it spreads southward into Mexico and Central America. Sweet gum seeds are eaten by many species of birds, including goldfinch, purple finch, sparrows, mourning doves, wild turkey, northern bobwhite, and wood duck, as well as by squirrels and chipmunks. As a recent deer steward level 2 graduate I am just getting my feet wet when it comes to herbicide applications. Wanna take that saw for a sweet gum test drive? Hey Marko, I noticed you're in Shootin Creek, Thats only about an hour and a half away from me and the tree. Has anyone ever milled any sweet gum on here and is it worth all the work or would it be a waste of money? wow great tip there about tracks... didn't know that! An array of birds and other wildlife, though, will open up the fruits on their own to feast on the seeds — a valuable food source for the creatures in fall and winter. Looking to start to clean out some woods in front of the new place. It can be an excellent shade tree in the right location, away from foot traffic where the spiky "gumball" fruits will not be an annoyance. In splitting it for the fireplace though, I noticed that the grain tends to spiral around the tree instead of running strait. Deprived of their seeds, dried-out sweetgum balls will drop steadily from tree limbs through the winter. The American sweetgum tree’s mature fruits and tiny seeds, shown here, provide nourishment for an array of birds and other wildlife in fall and winter. :laughing: Hey Marko, all kidding aside, what are your mill rates. Ruby-throated hummingbirds sip nectar from it during the spring. What's worse, these sweet gum balls (again, not to be confused with sweet gumballs!) My husband hated it from day one (we've been in the house 2 years now) and finally paid to have it cut down. Expand Signature. You painfully find them with your feet. 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. By the way, how long does it take to dry sweet gum (air dry), and how do you let it spalt? http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/gum.htm, https://www.facebook.com/beasleyturnings/, VerticalScope Inc., 111 Peter, Suite 901, Toronto, Ontario, M5V 2H1, Canada. Facts on the Sweet Gum Tree. Well seing we don't have a crane to lift this log, it will prob be spalted by the time we get it on the trailer..ha ha. If you have sweet gum ball trees on your property, you might see the seeds as a huge nuisance. However, not all trees turn red in autumn (the large majority are evergreen here due to the relatively warm temperatures in winter/autumn), so I really need to propagate this particular tree. Wood Color and Texture Old trees and even some younger trees have relatively large heartwood, called red gum in the trade. The sweet gum got its name for the resinous sap that results when you score its bark. Call to Order! 9AM-6PM ET Mon-Fri. 9:30AM-6PM Sat & Sun Click to expand... About as good ... (I've had to literally peel apart rounds with a splitter, big ones won't split) than it's worth unless you don't have anything else or the only other thing you have available is oak that won't be seasoned for two years. My whole family lives in Murphy NC and are always giving me timber or already milled wood that needs resawn and I always have to bring it down here to get it milled. It does however do great for turning, the spalting is icing on the cake. read more. Sweet Gums - Worth? Here's a pic of the monster. The tree is capable of rapid growth in dense stands producing large volumes of wood. (sort of like twine spirals down a length of rope) If the logs dry out, they also crack along that spiraled grain. Sweet-gum is known for its unique star-shaped leaves with outstanding yellow, red, and purple fall color. I heard a story a while back the wood was being sold overseas for making chopsticks. But did you know you could possibly earn some money by selling them? I own the ugliest sweet gum I’ve ever seen. They fall in abundance, they can stain cement if left for long periods, and they hurt if you step on them with bare feet. I think it was about 30 years old and such a pain in the. Sweet gum wood is valued for its attractive, interlocked grain. Sweet Gum Tree is the name given to the solo work of Loire-Valley based multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter Arno Sojo. My question is, is sweet gum lumber worth a darn? Its distinctive round, spiked, dark-brown seedheads, commonly known as “sweetgum balls,” also make it one of Georgia’s most recognizable trees — and perhaps one of its most maligned. I have never built anything with sweet gum, although it works great in the fireplace. Mercury and Venus are low in the west and Mars low in the southwest around nightfall. I appreciate the info Daren, I think we are gonna give it a go and see what happens. Visit to learn more. I dont know their drying process. Has anyone ever milled any sweet gum on here and is it worth all the work or would it be a waste of money? A large, top quality black cherry, for example, would command a significant price premium as a veneer log, while limby and crooked sweetgum might be priced as pulpwood. Woodland hiking trails — and yards and neighborhoods that harbor sweetgums — may become literally carpeted with the seedheads. I'd definitely recommend them and they'll be the first folks I reach out to the next time I need anything tree-related. Sweetgum tree is valuable for wildlife The American sweetgum tree’s mature fruits and tiny seeds, shown here, provide nourishment for an array of birds and other wildlife in fall and winter. Although this tree normally grows on rich, moist soils in the wild, it has proven itself quite adaptable in culture. They begin as pale green, spikey balls in spring and ripen into brown, seed-laden fruits by late summer. A guy I work with just had a huge sweet gum tree fall next to his house. He wants to know how good they are for burning and how long you would have to season them for. The largest tree reported is nearly 7½ feet in diameter at 4½ feet above the ground. Some even hate the tree. And this is the tree that inspired Sir Joseph Banks to call them Gum trees. Hello I’m trying to decide on wood for endgrain wood flooring and sweet gum is plentiful on my property and I personally think it is beautiful wood. EDIT: I think if clarity is the goal, photos of what trees are getting what service might be worth exploring. Second, a timber stand's value is dependent on the species, sizes, and qualities of the trees growing in it. February 14, 2010 To me, though, the sweetgum’s value for wildlife far outweighs its disadvantages. Perhaps it is time for some rehabilitation. The fruits, commonly known as “sweetgum balls,” drop from the trees in great abundance during the winter. I also love the sweetgum’s stateliness (80 to 100 feet tall), star-shaped leaves, beautiful fall colors and summertime shadiness. The sticky or gummy sap of sweet gums serves a purpose for the tree. THE sweet gum tree is one of the most spectacular autumn-colour trees, when it is at its best. I looked on the internet and loved the beautiful grain and colors of it but I heard that it has a bad tendency to warp and curl really bad? While you wait, the tree has much to offer. I saw a yard once that was bordered by 12 sweet gum trees. Growing sweet gum tree: Transplant when young -- the sweet gum resents root disturbance when it matures. They can simply be an eyesore and a pain to deal with. We offer affordable bare root American Sweetgum trees and many others trees shipped at the best time for planting where you live. Not a tree guy. trees that he is going to take down. bad tendency to warp and curl really bad? Sweet gum fruits are spiky green balls that turn brown through winter and fall to the ground November through May. My question is, is sweet gum lumber worth a darn? Jupiter rises in the east around midnight. Trees are the backbone of any good landscape plan. Hi, thanks for looking! However, not everyone feels the same way. Sweet Gum Healing. The American sweetgum is one of Georgia’s most common trees, occurring in forests, yards, parks and neighborhoods across the state. It is so valuable in fact, forestry officials are often called in to track down Black Walnut poachers. So I’m looking for some opinions on this…will even be a suitable option. It takes the sweet gum tree 20 to 30 years to mature enough to produce its fruit. moist alluvial bottomland soils. [question]Hi Dr. Woods, On a past episode of growing deer tv I watched you clear a small plot of small diameter trees by cutting them off close to the ground and apply a herbicide via a sponge brush to the small stump left behind. So I live in Mexico and I find sweet gum trees (liquidambar styraciflua) very attractive, particularly a tree near my house that turns an amazing red in autumn. These puppies are 25-30" and will be bucked and … In 2004, DNA testing was used to solve one such poaching case, involving a 95-foot tree worth US $28,500 cut down from someone’s backyard while they were on holiday. (800) 973-8959. The gumballs can be unpleasant to walk on; if wet, they can be slippery and hazardous. but they are very strong when made into ties. Five years ago our street was flooded for about a week (from back to back hurricanes), and the tree really hasn't been the same since. Sweet gum trees are so ... all of them, it’s easy to get less than you were expecting. Often, newly planted trees will scarcely grow at all for the first two or three years. My plan is to have 6”x 6”x 3/4” tiles for the entire house. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. Are Sweet Gum trees hardwood and are they good to burn in wood stoves? The moon will be full Tuesday. Hey Guys, My Father in Law has several Sweet Gum (Liquid Amber ?) 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