How to Pick up Sweet Gum Tree Balls and Use Them

If you are one of many unlucky owners of a sweet gum tree, then you're probably frustrated with the sweet gum pods or "gum balls" that are impossible to pick up, damaging to a lawn mower, and annoying in the least.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. 
    

   *Pick up sweet gum balls by Hand
   
   If you are hoping for a miracle, I hate to break it to you. There is no miracle tool or method for picking up sweet gum balls from your yard. Sprays that are designed to retard the growth of the balls are rarely effective and outrageously expensive. Net-like catcher tools don't work well, either. The thing to do is rake or pick them up by hand.
   
   If you spend a few hours really cleaning up the ground under your tree, you can then maintain your yard once a week. Take a basket or bag and pick up the newly fallen gum balls by hand--it's faster than raking when you just have a few. But the key is to clear the yard once and spot-check the yard weekly from that point forward.

2. 
    

   *Use sweet gum balls as Mulch or Filler
   
   If you have flower beds full of mulch, you can add sweet gum balls to the mulch. They don't rot fast, so they keep the bed covered. They also blend into the landscape and when someone does see them, they usually comment about how clever you are! The sweet gum balls blend right into the mulch in most cases and work really well under shrubs or in deep beds as a filler.
   
   Gum balls also can be recycled with yard waste, or they make a great filler for landscaping. If you are trying to build up an area of the yard, consider adding sweet gum balls to the bottom layer and building up from there. They don't rot fast, so they'll last for a while under layers of soil.

3. 
    

   *Use sweet gum balls for Crafts
   
   Of course, sweet gum tree balls can be used for crafts. Some web sites sell them! (If you're really motivated, you could bag them up and sell them by the pound on eBay.)
   
   Sweet gum balls can be glued onto candle rings, together to make ornaments, over terra cotta planters for a primitive addition to your garden, or strung together like beads on jute, covered with peanut butter, and rolled in bird seed for a string feeder.
   
   Sweet gum balls are a nuisance, but they can be useful to you in several situations. Rather than throw them in the yard waste bin, consider using them to help you with gardening tasks.

[sherlane]

on 8/22/2009 Great info to recycle nature.