Thursday, March 5, 2015

Sweetgum balls

Yesterday, I spent a little time raking up the sweetgum balls in the backyard.  There was a little too much pine straw mixed in for me to want to put it on my compost pile.  I consolidated the piles this morning and burned them.

 
The gumballs are getting to be a nuisance.  In the past, I don't think I've raked them, just mowed over the ones that were in the yard.  Probably because the trees are taller now, many more gumballs are falling into the yard.  A few years ago, the caretakers of the local nature preserve went through and girdled all the sweetgum trees so they would not be dropping balls on the paths.  Maybe that's a good idea.

2 comments:

  1. Gum balls are actually dangerous to the ankles on a hard surface. They are a nuisance. I have never heard of the girdle, not a bad idea...

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    1. I don't know if you have ever heard the "rooster song." It goes through various farmyard animals who were unproductive until the rooster showed up. Some acquaintances of mine added another verse about the gum tree. "We had a gum tree. No fruit it bore. We had a gum tree. No fruit it bore. Until that rooster came in our yard and caught that gum tree right off its guard. We're having Chiclets! We never used to before that rooster came in out yard! We're having Chiclets! We never used to before that rooster came in our yard."
      I thought that was quite the clever addition with a play on words of both "gum" and "chicks."

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