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What in the hell are gumballs?
They're little booby traps in your yard that prevent you from walking outside barefooted.
Look up Sweet Gum trees on the internet. Like the pine tree has pine cones, the sweet gum tree has gum balls. They are small round balls with sharp spikes all around them. You would only have to step on one of them bare-footed one time and you would never forget what they are!
You can collect the sweetgum balls (dried ones), spray paint and glitter them, and either use them on Christmas gifts
or Christmas trees, in bowls on the table on in clear glass vases or baskets with natural pine cones. They make really pretty ornamental touches for wreaths for every season when left natural, and I've used them in floral arrangements by gluing them onto thin sticks and placing them right in with cut, dried
or silk flowers.
You might not be able to prevent them from falling to the ground, but you can sure find lots of crafty uses for them.
There are people who will buy them for craft uses as well.
Hope this helps.
Pookarina
I would pay postage to send me some! They are supposed to be good for spiders. I put some out several years ago and worked like a charm.
I have plenty of them in my yard. And U clearly hate them. Yoy can have all you want.
I have like bag's of gum balls. If interested in them...
How many do you want? I have just over 10,000 seed pods with each pod averaging 4 seeds each.
Personal message me and I will send you some! I have buckets of them.
Very few of the many seeds are fertile. Gum balls can be tilled into compacted soil for aeration, minding the pH, of course.
I appreciate the craft ideas certainly, as my garden is polluted with balls from my (well-liked) neighbor. Are they a sourde for storax gum? Not sure, find your own web info at your own risk.
Will tilling in the gumballs greatly affect the ph of the soil?
I have a whole big pile of sweet gumballs inback of my shed here in Springfield, Missouri. Anyone that wants them is welcome to them. Just email me and I will tell you where I live. cjpage1954 AT gmail.com
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How do I get rid of sweet gum tree balls?
Hardiness Zone: 7a
By Donna from Memphis, TN
A rake, a trashbag, and lots of work. (04/18/2010)
By lisa
You could make the prettiest Christmas decorations with them. Just spray paint them gold or silver, tie them into units of 3 each and use them on wreaths or as tree ornaments, or even on packages.
My daughter makes them beautiful, and people are always wanting to buy them from her. She wishes she had a tree in her yard. They are hard to step on though, so you have to wear good shoes if you are collecting them.
If Life Gives you Lemons, don't fret, make Lemonade.
Julia (04/18/2010)
By Julia
How do I get rid of sweet gum balls?
Rwbrown
Guess you would have to get rid of the tree that creates them. Why not just collect the gumballs and use them for craft projects of your own or collect them to give away or sell for craft project usage for others? (04/14/2009)
By Deeli
If you have large pots that you plant flowers in they are a great natural filler and your container will not be as heavy compared to filled with all potting mix. (04/15/2009)
By Liz Orr
We have an outdoor "backyard fire pit" (we bought ours at Lowe's, they have several models), and have found that the sticky balls burn well in there and (surprisingly) have a pleasant smell.
We have two sticky ball trees, they were here when we bought the house. Finally found a use for them. (04/17/2009)
By Daisy Jane
