Poisonous Sweet Gum Tree Balls

The sweet gum s primary liability according to the makers of this list are the thousands of spiny brown seed balls gum balls if you will that it casts upon the ground around it.

Poisonous sweet gum tree balls. The witch s burrs or gum balls of this particular tree were enormous in size i don t think i have ever seen another sweet gum tree in my lifetime that has been this size. Then the flowers drop preventing the balls from ever forming. The certified arborist will inject the. The balls of the trees are modified fruits that house the seeds until the balls ripen and release the seeds.

Sweet gum trees also have unusual fruit. American sweetgum trees can be found throughout must of the eastern us. She s a flat coated retriever about 75 lbs. The tree needs the injections right before it flowers in spring.

I think my dog has eaten some sweet gum balls from a sweet gum tree. While the trees were popular for builders and municipalities to plant due to their medium to fast rate of growth and beautiful color they have become an. Are these things harmful to dogs. Sweet gum trees are so beautiful until you want to walk barefoot through your lawn.

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. For the best chance of stopping the sweetgum balls hire a certified arborist. 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. When the balls would fall off the tree in autumn it would be quite difficult to walk under the tree and if you were not careful you would fall it was like walking on golf balls.

Every subdivision from florissant to kirkwood to maryland heights has several of them. They exist for a reason sweet gum balls start out plump and green but they dry as they mature. I think she may have ingested them this morning. The american sweet gum is a popular tree in the st.

She always is trying to eat something but now she s very lethargic and is drinking lots of water. The spines become even spinier and holes open up to reveal seeds inside the balls. The tree s dark grayish brown twigs bear unusual corky ridges that lend the tree a peculiar angularity. While you can t eat the balls or the seeds pioneers once peeled the bark and scraped the resin like solid to produce chewing gum and medicines.

They are hard round balls about 1 1 2 inches in diameter and covered with sharp little bristles that can hurt a dog s paws. Getting back to ashley s question using injections on your sweetgum tree is tricky because the timing has to be just right.