However, their beauty does not come without a price. The sticky balls that grow on the trees’ branches eventually harden and fall to the ground between December and April. These brown, spiky balls are a hazard to anyone with bare feet, small children and animals. Maintain your yard by removing these ugly sweet gum balls.
Things You Will Need
Pick Up
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Pick up the sweet gum balls by hand while wearing a pair of gardening gloves. To make this job faster, have friends, family members and neighbors help you. Place the balls in a plastic container.
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Rake the sweet gum balls into a pile with a standard leaf rake. 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.
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Roll over your lawn with a rolling nut picker-upper like the Nut Wizard or Pecan Picker Upper. These devices are typically made up of rounded cages attached to a long handle, so you do not have to bend over to pick up nuts or sweet gum balls from your lawn.
Reuse or Dispose
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Donate your sweet gum balls to fellow gardeners or crafty neighbors. Dried sweet gum balls can be used in craft projects like ornament making or home decorations.
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Burn the remaining unwanted sweet gum balls. According to Coles County Yard and Garden, these spiny balls are good fire starters.
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Place the collected sweet gum balls in areas where dogs or cats mark their territory on your lawn. This is a natural way to repel animals from marking.
The Drip Cap
- Sweet gum trees are native to southern Illinois, but can be found all over the United States.
- However, their beauty does not come without a price.
- Rake the sweet gum balls into a pile with a standard leaf rake.
- Place the collected sweet gum balls in areas where dogs or cats mark their territory on your lawn.