Sweet Gum Tree Balls Inside

The sweet gum tree a forty foot tall sweet gum tree rises from the northeast corner of my back yard.

Sweet gum tree balls inside. The spines become even spinier and holes open up to reveal seeds inside the balls. But in flu season they re also a source of homemade tamiflu. May 10 2017 explore linda durtschi s board sweet gum tree ball crafts on pinterest. The spiky gum balls of the sweet gum tree are annoying to anyone who steps on them.

It s currently flu season which means many people are hom. These seeds are food for about 25. It s sweet gum ball time of year again and that means you may find yourself slipping on these prickly round seeds. 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.

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. These are a yard nuisance but i ve found a useful purpose for them. 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. Sweet gum balls start out plump and green but they dry as they mature.

For instance yesterday i finally looked up tree with spiky balls yeah i giggled a little inside at the search terms. I ve twisted my ankle on them. See more ideas about sweet gum sweet gum tree crafts crafts. By mid fall the balls are dead and seedless.

Before you write them off as just a nuisance consider these simple ways to utilize the sweet gum ball tree and it s falling fruit. Are sweetgum tree balls edible. However the search is long overdue. Processing wild crafted sweet gum tree balls to make homemade tamiflu.

On our typical route there are 3 trees that bear these weird little balls. While they re not edible the balls can double as spiky mulch to keep. The certified arborist will inject the. Just like leaves they must fall so the tree can prep for new growth.