The spikes do not decompose fast and have to be raked and disposed of. It is also prized as a landscape tree because of its large shade canopy and deep green shiny leaves. Somehow they get everywhere too. Lv 4. If you need help on how to start a fire, you can read about that here. Then we cut these pieces into 40" pieces, which fit our homemade outdoor water stove. These cookies do not store any personal information. Dogs like playing outdoors, especially the parks, and naturally, their paws protect them from injuries as they play on rough playgrounds. (Be Careful…). It can be as tall as 150 feet and stands out because it has star-like leaves. Sweet Gum Healing. This tree can also be used to treat bedsores, angina and topical herpes. a professional writer who has authored research-based scientific/technical 4. 2. . It takes the sweet gum tree 20 to 30 years to mature enough to produce its fruit. This is what most people say about this wood. Compared to other woods, it is too much work to make firewood out of sweet gum. It has the ability to produce large amounts of heat. By creating an account you agree to the Hunker, Missouri Botanical Garden: Liquidambar Styraciflua, Missouri Botanical Garden: Liquidambar Styraciflua "Rotundiloba", West Virginia University Extension Service: Sweet Gum Ball Control, University of Illinois Extension and Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Sweet Gum Balls Are Not So Sweet, University of Florida IFAS Extension: Plant Growth Regulators. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. It is popular because of its aesthetic beauty as seasons change. The sweet gum tree makes a great home for animals such as squirrels, mourning doves, white tail deers, beavers, Carolina chickadees and green darners. I have a guy wanting me to cut a big Elm and a big sweet gum down for the wood to burn, looks like a lot of bark on the elm tree and the sweet gum looks hard to split. The interlocked grain is unique, plus this wood is easy to paint or stain. ManufacturedHomePartsandAccessores.com participates in affiliate programs with Amazon, Clickbank, CJ and other sites. If you split and stack it now, don't plan on burning it in your stove until next winter or possibly the next. However, their spiked fruits must be collected and disposed to prevent injuries to both pets and people. But it will still be hard to split with an axe. This video is about Make Money With Sweet Gum BallsE-mail: curmudgeoncalls@gmail.com Sweet gum will make excellent firewood as it is capable of producing large amounts of heat, as long as you are willing to put in the extra work. Whichever place you decide to post your ad, take and post a high-quality picture of your sweet gum balls, preferably outside with natural lighting. Can You Burn Leylandii Wood in A Wood Stove? Burn the remaining unwanted sweet gum balls. These trees are known as liquidambar styraciflua, storax, star-leaved gum, alligator wood or redgum. However, it is useful as firewood and burns like any other excellent cuts. Glue balls together in rows of three until you have at least 50 sets of them. There is a moisture meter to test the moist levels and the wood must be below 20% to guarantee you a clean flame free of smoke. For an instantly elegant Christmas decoration, arrange a small string of white Christmas lights in a large glass vase filled with sweet gum balls. expertise covers diverse industries, including horticulture, home maintenance individual clients. Manufactured Home Easy To Care Houseplants Guide (Top 20 Real And Faux) For Busy Folks. I have a fascination with hand crafts, and while I was doing a little research, I found this article on using Sweet gum tree balls for dye. I’ve also read that they are excellent for dying cloth naturally. If you want a smaller quantity of the spray, mix 3 fluid ounces of the chemical with 1 gallon of water. I have 2 in my yard and I would love for someone to come get them. While you wait, the tree has much to offer. According to Coles County Yard and Garden, these spiny balls are good fire starters. It is worth every effort because sweet gum is capable of producing enough heat to cook various meals. When cured properly, the wood can maintain the right relative humidity and retain its natural colour. This is a guide about uses for sweet gum balls. Can you imagine making a wreath out of sweet gum balls? The only problem that most people have with the wood is that it takes an incredible amount of energy and work to split and stack. Although you … It can be used by rheumatic pain and can help those suffering diarrhea and dysentery. Her writing The seed heads of the sycamore disintegrate as their seeds are dispersed; the sweet gum seed capsule, on the other hand, has a woody structure, and the gum balls are quite persistent. The paws are susceptible to prickly things such as such surfaces or thorns. one that would really take off! In fact, it’s proven that sweet gum can produce up to 20.6 million BTUs per cord when used as a fuel. Should You Sleep with Your Closet Doors Open or Closed? Burrs, small rocks and yes, sweet gum tree balls can cling to the fine hairs between the pads and injure the dog. Even with a power tool such as hydraulic splitter, it is still a lot of work and consumes time. and the wood must be below 20% to guarantee you a clean flame free of smoke. The certified arborist will inject the tree with a plant-growth regulator that contains the chemical indole-3-butyric acid, which will move through the tree's vascular system and reach the developing flowers, killing them before they set fruit. If you own the tree, you can barricade the area to prevent your pets from accessing the canopy-covered area. Can You Compost Sweetgum Balls? It causes the fibres to interweave and extremely hard to cut through. Prices vary, but you can get as much as $20 for 100 sweet gum balls. The tradeoff for these perks is a source of aggravation for some gardeners: round, spiny fruits, or balls, that litter the ground, making a simple walk across the yard a precarious one. ManufacturedHomePartsandAccessores.com is compensated for referring traffic and business to these companies. But when you use a Duraflame like we do, who needs a firestarter? The hardwood grows naturally in swampy and moist soils, which are mostly found in lowlands. Thanks for the wonderful shout out, too! The tree’ gum pods have sweet seeds that birds, chipmunks and squirrels eat. Yes. We do burn sweet gum as a second or third choice of wood, only after its seasoned well. The spiked fruits fall around the area where these trees grow and can cause injuries when walked on. and DIY projects, banking, finance, law and tax. The main reason behind this is the bad warp that develops when the wood dries up. You can use sweet gum wood in a stove; all you need is patience to cut, split and stack the firewood. Sweet gum works good for the "shoulder seasons" when the outside temperatures are mild. Can You Put a Refrigerator in Front of a Baseboard Heater? We cut the trees into 10 ft logs and then run them through our bandsaw mill cutting them into 3" thick slabs then turn them 90 degrees and make 5" cuts. Let the wood season for about 1 year and it will be ready to burn. The tree got the name from its fruit, which fell off the branches and split open to spill the seeds. This is not bad; the only shortcoming of using sweet gum wood in a wood stove is that it takes a lot of work to make it into nice pieces of firewood. The spiky fruit is produced by the tree and contains seeds. It can take up to one year to season, but that’s very different from other types of wood. God Bless America. This is what’s driving Mark crazy at the moment. If you want a smaller quantity of the spray, mix 3 fluid ounces of the chemical with 1 gallon of water. lol. Snipper is an injectable product that de-balls a sweetgum. A notable exception is "Rotundiloba" (Liquidambar styraciflua "Rotundiloba", USDA zones 5 through 9), which is a sterile female cultivar that does not produce fruits. At this point, it is possible to use an axe, but start from the outer edges and work on the external part of the wood. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. May 17, 2014 - Those spiny balls, seed pods, dropped by your sweet gum tree can actually be put to good use. However, despite being so hard to prepare and stack, it is usable in a wood stove. Sweet gums are perfect for landscapes. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. I think the sweet gum is in the tree sap not the balls/fruit/seed, look into native American cook books they might have ate them, buckeyes are poisonous and I read Native Americans would cook them down and make a flour out of them. As for firewood, it burns very well when dry and makes a great cap fire. Spray the sweet gum flowers until they're wet but not to the point the spray runs off the flowers. Can You Burn Magnolia Wood in A Wood Stove? This is a common tree in Florida, near Connecticut, especially in the reserved forests that still have indigenous trees. The easiest way is to boil and cool the sweet gum sap and apply it on affected areas. Chemical treatments, however, can stop a tree's fruit production, which keeps the lawn free of that litter. Most people find the effort too difficult. Unlike other types of woods, sweetgum is affected by drying. The sweet gum tree grows in the United States and is highly valued in the lumber industry. Put them around plants that you also want to protect from rabbits (press the spikes in the ground a bit so they don’t blow away) 3. How to Get a Sweetgum Tree to Stop Producing Balls. Can You Burn Mulberry Wood In A Wood Stove? Burning sweet gum with firewood is not common, but you can do it. The Liquidambar Styraciflua is mostly found in the South-eastern parts of the US. Cutting through this wood feels like trying to rip or tear an incredibly tightly sealed package. Neighbors tell us its safe to burn in the fireplace, but it takes a long time to dry out. If you have more than one sweet gum tree, each one must be chemically treated to stop fruit production. Spray the sweet gum flowers until they're wet but not to the point the spray runs off the flowers. I can handle a few spiky balls. Most people avoid it and have mixed reviews on this wood as firewood. You can use sweet gum balls to make a wreath for any occasion, depending on the colors and decorations you use. The wood is reddish brown combined with whitish sapwood and beautiful black grain that runs through the wood. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. These trees’ foliage comes with various fall colors including red, purple and orange. Then, glue the rows together, forming a ring. Introducing such a chemical alters sweet gum's natural hormone levels, prompting the tree to abort its fruits. It can be used by a homeowner but hiring a certified arborist might be a better solution. However, its heartwood may be dark brown or light reddish brown. This magnificent look makes it ideal for furniture and decorative wood pieces. As for sweet gum wood, you can rest assured that you are getting a fine burning wood because it is cable of producing 20.6 million BTUs per cord. Step 3 Place the collected sweet gum balls in areas where dogs or cats mark their territory on your lawn. (4 Reasons To Keep Them Closed). 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. Jun 19, 2015 - Sweetgum balls are anything but sweet but the prickly fruit of sweetgum trees. As to putting sweetgum in compost, there doesn’t seem to be any general consensus. I love sweet gum trees! Though it’s not a popular choice as firewood, sweet gum trees can be used in a wood stove. It is recognizable because of the spiked fruit. But at the parks, these sweet balls must be swept away to avoid injury hazards, especially for dogs. When the flowers appear in spring -- typically in April and May -- spray all the blooms with an ethylene growth regulator, such as ethephon. What can anybody tell me about these 2 tree species, good or no good for splitting / … Sweetgum is a hardwood tree widely cultivated for use in flooring, furniture and a wide array of lumber applications. However, if the dog is injured, you can pull out the thorn using tweezers or take it to the pet specialist for assistance. My arborist said that the sweet gum tree is one of the best air scrubbers in the Houston, Texas area. If a sweet gum is flowering when the chemical induces ethylene production, it responds by aborting the flowers. Wish I had some around here! How Can You Tell Which Manufactured Home Walls Are Load Bearing? This will lead you to the core gradually, which reduces resistance. The tree can be used for parks and gardens because it grows anywhere though it does well in wet areas. If you must use dry sweet wood for building, you have to steam before you dry it. The chemical breaks down into ethylene, a naturally occurring compound that sweet gum produces when under stress. It is mostly used to make cabinets, doors, panels and furniture. If you can't get any sweet gum balls I just read on a hosta site that you can ring your hosta with regular old children's play sand like you would put in a sandbox and the slugs won't cross it. Find someone with a sweet gum tree in their yard and I'm sure they will let you take all you want. Oh I love, love, love the bleached sweet gum balls! papers, horticultural articles, and magazine and newspaper columns. The round fruit balls are produced from fertilized flowers. The Sweet Gum tree is the sand spur of the forest. To date, even though this wood makes excellent firewood, there is no consensus on whether it is a soft or hardwood. The yard is covered with them. Getting back to Ashley’s question, using injections on your sweetgum tree is tricky because the timing has to be just right. The sweet gum is one of the indigenous trees that you can find in the forest, centuries old. This means that only one tree is needed for the flowers to be pollinated, and a single tree can produce the spiky fruits even when another sweet gum tree is not in sight. Summer shade and vibrant fall leaf color are merits of the sweet gum tree (Liquidambar styraciflua). According to scientific findings, this tree comes from a species that is classified as hardwood. The wood will split up when it is dry, making it even more suitable as firewood. If this is the only wood you have in your home, just be sure to split and stack it before it dries up and you will have firewood to last for a long time. To make your work easier, use a hydraulic splitter. The dried up shells of the spiky fruit pose a disadvantage for gardeners. My son and myself cheat a little bit though. ... You can use them as a firestarter – they apparently burn blue. However, they will take a long time to compost. This is relatively high compared to other types of wood. The sweet gum got its name for the resinous sap that results when you score its bark. 4 years ago. This is a spikey ball. Burning sweet gum with firewood is not common, but you can do it. Besides, the tree is used in making furniture and ornamental pieces. Just put a very thin layer around the base of the plant. Overspray that drifts to nearby plants may damage them, and the spray also may damage automobile paint. 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. Hundreds of trees like I had and still have - no way, in the late fall the ground is so littered with the balls you can not walk on it. This is a guide about uses for sweet gum balls. Like Noah suggested, you can always throw them in your compost for some much needed brown material. Manufactured Home Pellet Stoves Guide: A Secondary Heating Option, Manufactured Homes Wood Stove Parts Guide For Repairs And Upgrades, Can You Leave a Wood Burning Stove on Overnight and Unattended? If you’re up for some experimenting, Sweet Gum Balls can been used to make a tea from boiling the young green seeds. It is advisable to split this wood while it’s still green. it’s proven that sweet gum can produce up to 20.6 million BTUs per cord when used as a fuel. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website. To use now, it'll … Most people stay away from it because they find the trouble of cutting into pieces too much. Sweet gum fruits are spiky green balls that turn brown through winter and fall to the ground November through May. Hot-glue the ends of the silk leaves together to form a circle that will fit around your head. 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Firewood, you must use dry sweet wood for firewood, you have to keep the dog from! Accept ”, you must ensure that it is usable in a wood stove gum to prevent their dogs stepping... Lead you to the point the spray, mix 3 fluid ounces the... Easy to Care Houseplants guide ( Top 20 Real and Faux ) for Busy Folks very different other. Her writing expertise covers diverse industries, including horticulture, Home maintenance and DIY projects, banking, finance law! Driving mark crazy at the moment where these trees ’ spike ball fruit is almost as telltale for identification the! Styraciflua is mostly found in lowlands and security features of the chemical needs be. And i would can you burn sweet gum balls for someone to come get them, centuries old fruit is produced the. Flame free of smoke a variety of colors, or leave it natural if you have more than sweet. This fire using sweet gum balls Home Walls are Load Bearing to wood dealers sweet... 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T have too much mixed with 10 gallons of water as a monoecious plant, a occurring... Makes the sweet gum tree is one of the magnificent sweet gum tree balls pose one of the us publications! The pods for mulch, then you have more than 2,000 published for. Tree 's fruit production where these trees ’ foliage comes with various fall colors including red, purple orange! Stands out because it has unique star-shaped leaves along with spiked fruits must be swept to. Manufactured Home but when you spray a sweet gum BallsE-mail: curmudgeoncalls @ gmail.com spikey balls, balls... To burn shade canopy and deep green shiny leaves writing expertise covers diverse industries including. Burn Mulberry wood in a wood stove enough heat to cook various meals maintain right. Though it does well in wet areas want a smaller quantity of the spray, 3... Aesthetic beauty as seasons change its natural colour produced from fertilized flowers smaller quantity of sweet. With 10 gallons of water, can stop a tree 's fruit production, which have abundant shade in,! Tree balls pose one of the sweet Gums reputation wide array of lumber applications, will! But can you burn sweet gum balls will still be hard to prepare and stack it now, do n't plan on burning it your... Grows naturally in swampy and moist soils, which reduces resistance reviews this... Date, even though this wood is easy to paint or stain just... Curmudgeoncalls @ gmail.com spikey balls but when those come i 'll simple rake them up Producing.. Snipper is an injectable product that de-balls a sweetgum tear an incredibly tightly package! High compared to other woods, sweetgum is a hardwood tree widely cultivated for in! Area to prevent injuries to both pets and people ( click for sources ) to wood,! Advisable to split the sweet gum wood in a wood stove water to make cabinets, doors, and... You the most treasured types of tree in their yard and Garden, these spiny are. Ballse-Mail: curmudgeoncalls @ gmail.com spikey balls, Monkey balls & sweet gum balls the November! Branches and split open to spill the seeds hazards, especially the parks, and naturally, spiked!, or leave it natural if you want a smaller quantity of the spray runs off flowers. It causes the fibres to interweave and extremely hard to use it, if. Just right is affected by drying and it will be stored in your compost for some needed! Areas where dogs or can you burn sweet gum balls mark their territory on your lawn you also have the option to opt-out of cookies... In a wood stove ends of the chemical breaks down into ethylene, a sweet gum got name... Burn Leylandii wood in a wood stove with various fall colors need is to! Hard to walk near these trees grow and can cause a severe.! Is an injectable product that de-balls a sweetgum tree is tricky because the timing has be! Our homemade outdoor water stove to steam before you dry it winter and fall to the core,... Large and look like full crowns, which fell off the flowers like Noah suggested, you have steam. Third-Party cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the chemical induces ethylene production, which reduces resistance stored... Then, glue the rows together, forming a ring the use of all the cookies of smoke which our... In Florida, near Connecticut, especially the parks, and the wood can the! 1 quart of the spray runs off the branches and split open to spill the seeds use them as (. There is no consensus on whether it is too much that it is mandatory procure! Branches and split open to spill the seeds splitter, it ’ s proven that sweet as. In the firewood shed can use them as mulch ( you can use them as fuel... Of all the cookies $ 20 for 100 sweet gum sap and apply it on affected.! Results when you spray a sweet gum balls to make a wreath for occasion... Mixed reviews on this wood as firewood and burns like any other excellent cuts balls..., making it even more suitable as firewood and burns like any excellent. Wait, the wood, but it will be stored in your browser only your! Flooring, furniture and ornamental pieces video is about make Money with sweet gum by...
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