Those spiky balls all over your lawn will challenge you every time you mow. I would never plant one as a lawn tree. I have a huge one that was planted long ago by someone and I finally killed off the lawn underneath and covered it with bark. I can just let the ball stay where they fall. That being said, you can spray the tree to prevent the balls...I did one year and it worked, but I did not want to spend $100+ every year.

where are you phil ... they are not particularly aggressive in growth in my MI ...

and after 5 years... it should be fully established and growing to potential ... unless it was not properly planted in the first place ....

but lifes to short.. to live on hope and a prayer... get rid of it.. if it is letting you down ...

go with a smaller transplant ... in the 3 to 5 foot size ... and it will outgrow a large.. expensive transplant in 5 years ..

as to what to replace it with.. well... where are you ...

ken

We have some 30-40 year old sweetgums as street trees a couple streets over. Some of them are very tall and skinny, so it may just be plant-to-plant variation. They may broaden out long-term, but that could take decades. Sweetgums do have nice fall color, but they are not the most refined or stately of trees IMO. And the spiky balls are annoying. For a prime location in a neatly manicured front yard like what you have, you may consider going another direction.

Ken, I am not too far from you. South of Toledo near Bowling Green, Ohio.

As a general rule those threes that grow up tall will be those that are completing with other trees in the area. There are no other trees that are competing for space where you have yours planted. Disregarding the gum balls, the tree is very attractive. In my opinion they have better color than maples which are known for color.

One of the things that have not been mentioned is the smell. When you smell and or crush the live leaves they give off a very pleasant sweet smell.

While I was the first to mention gum balls in this thread. they are not as much of a problem as stated. In the fall I clean up the leaves with a leaf blower. In the spring I use the same leaf blower to clean up the gum balls. In my experience they fall with in a couple of weeks in the spring and and can be taken care of during the spring day when you clean your yard. The last thing in the fall I do is cut the yard under the gums on the short side, and clean up the gum balls before the grass starts to grow in the spring. With the grass short they to not become entangled in the grass.

Is it possible this is a "slender silhouette" type of sweetgum?

It looks to be the slender version. It wont get very wide, so you can move it over some and plant another tree that will get larger. i would keep it if i were you.

It should be noted that the "short Lived" sweet gums will live to be over 100 years old and the trunk 2.4 to 3' in diameter.

I didn't know there was a slender version of the Sweetgum.

We have a big, tall, wide, very happy one right next to what became a fish pond. The tree has his feet in there, not in the slightest perturbed or perplexed that one day a huge hole was dug and a drain was 'eeled' then, instead of the hole being filled in, it was enlarged and made into a pond. The tree never turned a leaf.

But I tend to agree with those spiky seed capsules though. The dog picks his way over them when making a bee line for the car, or the bike. Or the cat if he - the cat - is in the mood for games. And if the tree was in the lawn instead of in a corner of what I call a garden, then I think I wouldn't be overly impressed. BUT, they rake easily from a lawn that is kept neat.

HOWEVER, I agree with Ken. Why have a tree in your garden that you feel a little annoyed with? There are so many out there that might better suit you. Maybe this one is a skinny type. I wouldn't want a skinny one either. I like big, wide canopies when there is plenty of room.

And, maybe the thing was planted as an advanced specimen. How I loath this way of thinking: that a big, huge, expensive tree who is too long in the leaf is bought instead of a young, vigourous one. (Preferably bare-rooted - if it is Winter.) So much better in every way.

I like sweetgums. Good fall colors and growth.

A fair number from the 60's are dying though.

The spike balls only bother me if I roll naked in the grass. I CAN see how it would be annoying to have them clog a grated drain I guess that could happen, maybe. Over my gutters they wouod not be fun.

I don't doubt they can live to be 100+ in the right conditions. But the ones I see in my town (typically planted in 1970's era subdivisions) will not live that long. Most are already in decline. Yes, you can live with the balls if you really like the tree, but they are annoying. They don't fall all at once, they don't break down easily, and can trip you up if they make it to any paved sidewalks or driveways. There is a reason that a lot of municipalities do not plant them anymore after going hog-wild on them back in the day. I am tempted to plant one for the sake of variety, but it will definitely be towards the back of my backyard.

Agreed. There is a wrong tree for every place. This should not be planted where it overhangs your pool and drops spike balls where you walk barefoot.

Now 50 feet from my home where I can see its cool star shaped leaves and excellent fall color and its my boy lol.

I had to completely give up laying naked under my Sweetgum. Climbing it naked though would be all right for anyone who wants to try that.

We moved it two doors down to my son's house. He's thrilled to have it in his side yard between houses. I'm thrilled to have a Red Sunset Maple in my front yard.