Sweet Gum - what to go under or near

15 years ago

What would you recommend to grow under or near a sweet gum tree? Obviously we have a devil of a time getting grass to grow here, thus I thought... Why not forget grass and plant something else...

I would also like a border hedge or bush to plant near this sweet gum which provides a lot of shade... I would also like to be able to plant in a more sunny area to compliment this plantings...

Suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks

Featured Answer

razorback33

15 years ago

Have only one Sweet Gum tree, 40+ years old and very large, located near and on North side of my house. The terrain has a gentle slope on one side of the tree, away from house, where I constructed a raised bed out to the drip line to level the planting area. Evergreen Azaleas and Mahonias(bealei & aquifolium) are planted near the trunk. Understory trees are Dogwood, one each of Cornus florida & kousa, a Magnolia stellata and 4 Japanese Maple cultivars. Other shrubs include Camellia japonica & sasanqua, several Hydrangea macrophylla & serrata cultivars and a Native Azalea, R. prunifolium. Perennials growing there are Helleborus, Epimedium, Tricyrtis, Hosta, several Fern species, 3 species of Selaginella, Cyclamen, Ardisia, Bletilla striata, Begonia grandis, Dicentra, Heuchera americana, Blue Columbine, 2 species of Native Asarum, Rock Garden Iris, Daffodils, Tradescantia 'Sweet Kate' and an attractive member of the Ginseng Family, Acanthopanax sieboldianus 'Variegatus'
Leaves and seed pods are only removed from the shrubs and plants to prevent damage to them, the ones on the ground are left to decompose. Seedlings have not been a problem during the 20 years that the plantings have been there.
I'm told that the trees are very tough and can withstand fairly strong straightline winds, but I had an unusual thing happen on a clear, calm day; a large limb, about 8" in dia. at the base and located near the top of the tree, came crashing down and lodged in the lower branches, There was no disease or previous damage evident on the branch. Still a mystery, unless the weight of the foliage and fruit was too great.
Rb

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Comments (9)

enchantedplace
15 years ago
Will attempt a response. We have no sweet gum but there are some in our neighborhood. One of our references decribes sweet gum as 'having resinous foliage'. It seems to be grown for it's individual beauty especially for autumn color. It is also known for a gum produced from the sap when injured. Another name for the tree is 'liquid amber'. The ref states that a similar product from Oriental trees is used to burn as incense. "Forest Trees of Oklahoma" decribes sweet gum as a valuable forest tree. The wood is heavy and moderately hard, can be used for flooring, interior finish , paper pulp, and veneers for baskets of all kinds. The gum is used in the manufacture of cinnamic alcohol, adhesive tape, and fixative for perfumes. This could explain challenge in growing anything under or near the tree. The ones in our neighborhood do have grass growing around them with near by flower beds. Maybe it would be more practical to use the area beneath and around the tree as an open space. The fruits also drop off in winter and need to be disposed of. I have used the fruits in wreath making which were very attractive. We have a large pin oak in our small door yard (not put there by us!) We have a variety of spring bulbs, mertensia, solomon's seal, bloodroot, box shrubs, blue angel holly, and weeping yaupon holly growing nearby. Shallow rooted plants or small bulbs do best because of surface roots. Nothing blooms continually but we enjoy what is there during the growing and blooming season. Hope this helps. EP
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sommer
Original Author
15 years ago
Razorback33... Sounds like you have ALOT under your Sweet gum tree.. Do you have any pictures? It sounds beautiful.

thanks for the input
razorback33
15 years ago
sommer -
Sorry, no pictures. Don't have a DC. Only shoot 35 mm slides of individual plants, which I use occasionally for presentations to GC's and Plant Societies. Would like to convert to digital, but the cost of a Power Point & DC is not economical for my limited use. DC's are coming down in price, saw a local ad recently for a well known brand 6MP for less than $200. But the Power Points are still around $1K.
BTW, I remembered some other plants that are under my Sweet Gum: 3 cultivars of Ligularia tussilaginea(Leopard Plant), Trillium cuneatum, Pinellia cordata(relative of Jack-in-the-Pulpit) and Stylophorum diphyllum(Celandine or Wood Poppy).
It's becoming crowded under there!
Rb
jaceysgranny
15 years ago
Razorback, you may want to check out this office suite which is free, Microsoft compatible and has a presentation function. I heard about it on THS/computer forum. Here's the link to the presentation part and you can go to home to check out the rest of the site. Maybe if you decide to try it you can show us some of those slides.
http://www.openoffice.org/product/impress.html

Nancy
tfriedlob_yahoo_com
15 years ago
I am excited to find this discussion as I have several sweetgum volunteers growing within three to seven feet of well established camellias (both japonicas and sasanquas), azaleas, and one Rose of Sharron (I hope that's cprrect spelling!).
I have over fifty different cultivars of camellia and a good show of azaleas and do not want to loose any in the years to come, but would like to leave several of the sweet gum to grow.
Questions:
How close to the above mentioned plants should I let sweet gum volunteers grow?
How successful might I be transplanting a few sweet gum? Any tips?
Thanks, Tom
Marian_2
15 years ago
Tom , I transplanted a young sweetgum and had excellent success . It was a seedling about 5' tall , and was dormant .
Other than the annoying prickly seed 'balls' , and the surface roots , I love the tree . I sure do not recommend planting it in an area where you do much walking , unless you rake up all those 'balls' ! Also , mine reseeds profusely , and suckers freely ! I imagine there are new hybrids that are much more tidy . Mine is a native from our own land .

Marian
Angela Bahling
last year
Hello all!

I have recently purchased a 1940 "bungalow" (Realtor description but I think maybe a Minimal Traditional because of the entry placement.) Anyway! In the front yard is a sweet gum with six trunks. It is absolutely magnificent. The drip line almost encompasses the entire front yard.

Thank you to Razorback33! What a plethora of plant knowledge! The front exposure is East so I will need to do some of my own research but you have given me a fabulous start.
PJ
11 months ago
I have a big sweetgum tree in my front yard.

Upside: beautiful gold-yellow in Autumn. Lots of shade.

Downside: "decorative fruit" means "small spiky balls so painful that if the chinese ever invade we could fill them with something and use them as artillary."

Mowing the lawn all but requires hocky gear unless you rake first. If you have one, you know what I mean! :-)

So as you mentioned, lotsa shade under that thing. I have a blooming perennial there, a thick ring of "bare-naked ladies" flowers that bloom I think a couple times a year. They are on tall stalks, big flowers. Pretty. Then you have to weedeat all the big stalks with their bloom is over.

I've had a variety of Hostas grow in shade before, not currently but I'd considered adding some to that area under the tree, since they're perennial also. The varieties are nearly infinite on that one and likely some are better adapted to shade than others. (Do you get any morning light at least as the sun rises, before it is blocked by the leaf mass?) Anyway you might try those.

PJ

Sweet Gum - what to go under or near

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