That is just a beautiful tree! I sure proves the point of getting in the 'bones' of a garden first. Aren't you glad you planted it.

What a beautiful tree and bed, jkom! I also have a liquidambar in my front garden, not a variegated one like yours, but the normal liquidambar styraciflua. I know there are some people who like to bash on that tree, but I absolutely adore mine and is hands down my favorite tree of all that I have planted in the garden. Mine does turn beautiful colors in Fall. Do you know which cultivar yours is? (Not that I have room for another, sigh...)

Eduarda

Here is mine seen from our living room

{{gwi:641574}}

One of the most beautiful native trees here, American sweetgum. I've never seen a variegated one before. Yours is gorgeous.

We have none in the gardens around the house, but they do grow elsewhere on the property, the regular big kind. My other fav is Nyssa, the Blackgum. The leaves aren't as interesting, but the red fall color makes up for that.

Has your tree put on Sweetgum balls yet, or does it have to be older? We had a triple trunked Sweetgum at our other house. Birds love the seeds and would hang on the pods, eating. I still have some pods, sans seeds, in a box with the Christmas decors.

Nell

Don't you feel like a proud parent? I know I do when I watch my trees grow. Congrats on raising a fine looking tree.

What great foresight on your part to plan like that. The tree and your garden has grown to become very beautiful!
Not only that, but it have given you privacy and shade.

Gums grow really well here, but are not native in this area of the state. There are native all long the eastern boundary of the state though. I would love a liquidamber or two.

Nell, I've used the pretty gum balls for Christmas decors too. :)

~Annie

That sure is a pretty tree. I would rather have that than the AZ ash in my back yard.

Kathy

OK, not a native to me, however- I remember a TV show about how negative this tree could be....anyway, read below, and decide for yourself!!!

Nancy.

Here is a link that might be useful: The legend of the liquid amber tree

Liquidambar aka stargums are a popular tree here in the East Bay (Oakland/Berkeley/etc. in Northern CA). They are one of the few sources of fall color here.

Yes, they will break sidewalks up if NOT watered correctly and given sufficient room. The City of Berkeley periodically goes to certain neighborhoods, and simply saws away at the top gnarled roots, re-levels the sidewalk, and that takes care of it for the next 20-30 years.

You see, it was common in the '30's and '40's to place these trees in the 'dead zone' between the street and the sidewalk. Thus, you are giving a 50+ foot tall tree a soil rectangle of approximately 15" wide and 2" long, surrounded by concrete.

Obviously this was an extremely stupid practice and nowadays people are encouraged to plant true small trees such as Crape Myrtles and Redbuds.

I have never seen a liquidambar produce runners. The gumballs might possibly produce seedlings, but the roots do not produce new trees, no matter how sensationalist the media likes to be.

I heard a lot about "greedy roots" of the stargum, so I was careful to only deep-soak my small tree. I have had absolutely no trouble digging in the soil surface within 18" of the trunk. In fact, in November I was doing some planting of some 3" pots under the branches, without encountering any problem roots.

Nancy, that was a pretty scary article. Considering the answers from the different posters there, I really wondered what happened. My tree has been planted for 8 years in my tiny front garden and so far hasn't presented problems, fingers crossed and hoping it stays that way. Last Fall we did extensive works to the exterior of the house, including the addition of a front porch and the complete removal of the concrete and stone slab that surrounds all sides of the house. The tree is so close to the front porch eaves that it had to be tied up so that the masons could work! We also had new underground water pipes laid around the concrete slab and that meant a trench about a foot deep and wide had to be dug about 3 feet from the tree. I can't remember seeing any invasive roots when all this digging was done (or the masons cursing) and believe me, a lot was dug in that front garden! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it was not a huge mistake to plant it, as it's my favorite tree.

I was also not warned about invasiness problems at the nursery where I bought it. I was advised against willow, for example, which can be a real pain in our climate. They will get everyhwere, especially if you have a broken sewerage pipe or a pool. I was also thinking about something one of the posters on that link said: maybe it was the fact that the tree had previously been cut that triggered the suckers to run rampant? I know for sure that poplars do exactly that. The plot of land next to ours has a line of poplars and the owner decided to chop them down a couple of years ago. As a result I had poplar seedlings sprouting up in my garden all over the place! The same happened to my neighbors next door. We both removed countless poplars from our plots the Summer following the big chop down. It seems if the trees are left to grow naturally fewer suckers will sprout elsewhere, so maybe that was the reason the tree went wild? Just wondering and, as I said, keeping my fingers crossed that mine continues to behave well.

To be honest, wisteria has given me a lot more trouble with roots and general invasiness than the sweet gum so far. I firmly believe not even a nuclear bomb can kill wisteria. It should rank together with the gingko as an Hiroshima survivor.

Eduarda