Sweetgum Trees: Gumballs, Roots and When to Take One Out

Sweetgum is the tree with the star-shaped leaves and the spiky balls that hurt to step on barefoot. It is native to Central Florida, it turns real colors in the fall, which is rare down here, and it grows into a tall, straight, handsome shade tree.

It is also one of the trees people most want gone. The complaints are consistent and mostly fair, so here is an honest look at sweetgum in a Volusia County yard.

The gumballs

The seed balls drop from late fall through winter and sometimes into spring. A mature tree produces thousands. They do not decompose quickly, they roll, they jam mowers, and they make a lawn unpleasant to walk on. Anyone with a pool under a sweetgum spends the winter skimming them out.

There are chemical growth regulators that can reduce fruit set when applied at the right point in flowering, but timing is narrow, results are inconsistent on large trees, and it has to be repeated every year. On a big sweetgum, most people either accept the cleanup or take the tree out.

The roots

Sweetgum roots are shallow, wide and aggressive. They surface in lawns, they lift walks and driveways, and they find their way into old sewer laterals. This is the second most common complaint and it is the one that sometimes turns into a genuine problem rather than a nuisance.

Do not let anyone cut large surface roots near the trunk to fix a driveway. Sweetgum depends on those roots for anchorage, and the tree can become a hazard on the side you cut. Our post on surface roots in the lawn covers the options that do not compromise the tree.

The structure

Here sweetgum gets better marks than most fast-growing trees. It typically holds a strong central leader with well-spaced branches, and it does not form the weak codominant unions that make laurel oak and camphor structural problems. A sweetgum in reasonable health rarely splits.

What it does do is drop limbs in storms. The wood is moderately strong but the tree is tall, the canopy catches wind, and limb breakage is common in hurricanes. Deadwood also accumulates in the interior as lower limbs shade out. A maintenance pruning every few years, taking deadwood and thinning storm-broken tips, keeps a sweetgum in good shape.

Health issues

Sweetgum is generally tough. In our area the things we see are:

• Iron chlorosis on alkaline sites, showing as yellow leaves with green veins. Common near new concrete and on fill soils.
• Bleeding canker on the trunk, where the bark oozes dark sap. A tree with extensive cankers is declining and worth assessing.
• Leader dieback at the top of the crown, often the first sign of root problems or construction damage.
• Webworms in late summer. Cosmetic on large trees.

A sweetgum that is thinning at the top and dropping limbs is telling you something is wrong underground, and that usually traces back to a grade change, a trench or compaction, as we explained in Why Trees Die Three Years After Construction.

When to remove a sweetgum

Reasonable reasons to take one out:

• Roots have repeatedly damaged a driveway, sidewalk or sewer line
• The tree is over a pool or patio and the seed drop makes the space unusable
• It is in decline, with top dieback and cankers
• It is close enough to the house that limb drop in a storm is a real risk

Sweetgum stumps and roots resprout vigorously. If you remove one, grind the stump and be prepared to mow off root sprouts for a season. Our stump grinding page explains what that involves.

If you are keeping it

• Mulch out to the drip line to cover surface roots and reduce mower damage
• Have deadwood removed every few years
• Keep an eye on the top of the crown; that is where decline shows first
• Rake or blow the seed balls into the beds rather than leaving them on the lawn; they make a reasonable mulch once they break down

Frequently asked questions

Are there fruitless sweetgum varieties?

Yes. A few cultivars set little or no fruit. They are worth seeking out if you want the fall color without the cleanup, though availability is limited in nurseries here.

Can I spray to stop the gumballs?

Growth regulators exist and are applied by licensed applicators. On a small tree they can work well. On a large mature tree, coverage and timing make results unreliable, and it is an annual expense.

Is sweetgum a good hurricane tree?

Middle of the pack. It rarely uproots or splits, but it loses limbs. Well-maintained, it holds up reasonably. Neglected, with a lot of deadwood, it sheds a mess onto whatever is underneath.

Does sweetgum removal require a permit?

Sweetgum is a native and can be protected above certain trunk sizes depending on the jurisdiction. Call your local planning department before scheduling a removal.

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ArboristRX prunes, assesses and removes sweetgum trees across Edgewater, New Smyrna Beach, Port Orange, DeLand and the rest of Volusia County. Call (386) 444-5959.