Daily Dose Blogger Bios
Prickly Balls - Yes or No?
I love the Liquidambar styraciflua trees that stand as sentinals in front of my house - they are tall and stately, their leaves are green and lush all spring and summer, and in the fall they dial up the drama and present a gorgeous display of seasonal leaf color. But I think my favorite time is when they've lost all their leaves and spiky seedpods adorn them like baubles on an x-mas tree. I like these pods. They are really cool looking. I'd love a pair of earrings that looked like these prickly orbs.
The thing is, these little spheres don't stay on the bare branches. They fall. Everywhere. It bugs me that they get in the crotches of all the plants below the trees. And the worst, for me, is the layer that accumulates on sidewalks all over the neighborhood. These thorny globules are out to get me.
See, I am terribly clumsy. I fall all the time - usually in front of people I'm trying to impress. The minute my footing is the tiniest bit usure, I can't recover - I just fling myself on the ground and pray nobody saw me. Every fall and winter, walking the dogs is like tiptoeing through a minefield; if I happen to step on a liquidambar ball, I'll take a tumble. It is quite the spectacle, I'm told. I can imagine.
I still love these trees, and I advocate that gardeners in warm climates use them ... but so many people hate the prickly balls! Ambivalence I can understand, but don't be a hater! Embrace the Liquidambar, even if the thistle-y globe of a seedpod can be a pain in the butt. Literally.
I love the little globes too. Do they fall all at once? Could you sweep them up now and then?
I actually used a branch with the pods all over it for my x-mas tree 2 years ago. Add twinkly lights, a few rubber lizards and sea anemone and voila ... Very fetching!
I do sweep them up, but they keep on coming. They are so inconsiderate!
Love those liquidambers! They're the street tree in our neighborhood and when they turn that gorgeous red,this Californian remembers that there are seasons.
Hence my ambivalence! On the one hand, I LOVE these trees ... they are so beautiful, and here in SoCal, there really isn't another tree of it's stature that turns such lovely colors in the fall. But my tailbone certainly has a problem with the constant falling due to the round spiky pods. A friend says I should join her Tai Chi group to 'soften my ankle joint'.
Sumcool, I just had a thought - are there varieties without pods? Not that I would switch mine out, they are so old and grand ... but for future reference. I'm going to investigate!
I found it! Liquidambar styraciflua 'Rotundiloba' - the sweet gum tree without prickly balls! They color up in the fall just like other liquidambars, the only difference (other than lack of pods) is the leaves, which have rounded lobes rather than pointed ones. Yesterday we had a horrible windstorm here in LA, and my sidewalk is so full of obnoxious round thornies that I would rip out my trees and plant these in a second if they wouldn't take 20 years to grow in!