Help to sterilize tree

lau · Mon Jan 24, 2011 2:33 pm

Hello,
Can anyone help me find a product I can sterilize my liquid amber (sweet gum) tree with? I either have to stop the fruiting "dingleberries" or the tree has to go. I like it and want to keep it.

I am looking for a ground drench rather than a spray, as the tree is huge.
Thanks.
Lau

rainbowgardener · Mon Jan 24, 2011 8:02 pm

Not something you can do. It can (somewhat) be done, but only by professional arborists. The chemicals used are quite toxic and are not available for homeowner usage.

https://forestry.about.com/b/2007/12/12/discussion-can-you-sterilize-sweetgum.htm

the growth regulator ethephon is corrosive and will take the paint off your car if the spray drifts onto it, not to mention what it will do to you. The other alternative Indole-3-butyric Acid is mutagenic (causing birth defects) and toxic, can be lethal in overdose.

If you like your tree, I think you need to live with the gumballs...

bullthistle · Tue Jan 25, 2011 10:00 am

I cannot stand the trees. I removed all from my property after I bought the house now in the fall the damn balls blow into my yard from my neighbors and the ones I miss set root in the garden beds. Chop it down its not even good for firewood. A waste tree.

rainbowgardener · Tue Jan 25, 2011 3:29 pm

But it is a native tree with gorgeous fall color, berries that feed a variety of birds and mammals, it is host to several species of butterfly larvae, and bees love its nectar (ever hear of Tupelo honey? sweet gum is tupelo).

I think it is a great tree! It is dioecious, meaning it has separate male and female trees. So if you can make sure you only have one it might help, though if yours is the seed producer, if there are pollinators elsewhere in the neighbor hood, you will still get "gum balls."

Pineville · Wed Jan 26, 2011 7:33 am

I here this frequently about Liquidambar as well as Sycamore "the tree is messy" which it really isn't. It is just doing what it is suppose to do. If you really can't live with the seeds, cutting the tree down would be better than poisoning your soil.

!potatoes! · Wed Jan 26, 2011 11:56 am

or maybe chop it down, and plant one you know is male in its place...?

froggy · Wed Jan 26, 2011 2:42 pm

Ever walked past fallen ginkgo fruit? - it smells like dog poop.
There's another species where you might want a male tree

Kisal · Wed Jan 26, 2011 4:13 pm

The trees I find produce the worst mess are the walnuts. Walking on a sidewalk covered with fallen walnuts -- a frequently encountered situation in my neighborhood -- is like trying to walk across a room where someone has strewn marbles all over the floor! At least the gum balls are soft enough to collapse when stepped on.

rainbowgardener · Thu Jan 27, 2011 6:52 am

They say that allergy sufferers in the city are having a worse time these days (among other reasons) because so many people plant only male trees that there is more pollen in the air than there would have been with a balance.

lau · Fri Jan 28, 2011 1:07 am

Thank you all for your input.
I read the label for Snipper. I don't want to poison the soil and especially the bees that may feed on the dying flowers. I am a beekeeper and wildlife enthusiast. I like the tree, but because of our climate in central Ca. we have an almost continual fall of the gumballs year round. The tree is 20 years old and the crop gets bigger every year. I can't pick them up daily, and because of its location next to our street sidewalk, the gumballs may be a hazard to our elderly neighbors who daily must cross our side walk to get their mail. I wouldn't want any to slip or sprain on the gumballs.
I think I will have to replace the tree.
Thanks again,
Lau

WildcatNurseryman · Mon Feb 20, 2012 3:16 pm

rainbowgardener wrote:But it is a native tree with gorgeous fall color, berries that feed a variety of birds and mammals, it is host to several species of butterfly larvae, and bees love its nectar (ever hear of Tupelo honey? sweet gum is tupelo).

I think it is a great tree! It is dioecious, meaning it has separate male and female trees. So if you can make sure you only have one it might help, though if yours is the seed producer, if there are pollinators elsewhere in the neighbor hood, you will still get "gum balls."

Sweet Gum is NOT Tupelo. Tupelo or Black Gum is Nyssa sylvatica and Sweet Gum is Liquidambar styraciflua. Two TOTALLY different trees. Your discription of Nyssa sylvatica is accurate however. Liquidambar or Sweet Gum is a HUGE piece of junk though. I would only plant this tree in my worst enemies yard.

WildcatNurseryman · Mon Feb 20, 2012 3:20 pm

enemy's* ...decription is accurate except for the Nyssa having Gum Balls.

WildcatNurseryman · Mon Feb 20, 2012 3:22 pm

description* -I know my trees, I just can't spell. lol