gumballs

REELDOC

The creek won't clear up til you get the pigs out.
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No, not the ones you eat. It's that time of year for those dried, spikey demons from hell to start falling. Broken ankles, stabs in the dog's feet and little missiles thrown from the mower. They don't burn well and will never rot. The only thing you can do is relocate them to the pile you started 30 years ago. They are the perfect torture weapon. You start cramming them damn things up somebody's ass and they will sing like a bird.

If I had a couple extra thousand bucks they would be cut down and hauled way away from my yard. The wood isn't even worth keeping. You ever tried to split gum tree wood? These damn trees contribute nothing to humanity.

Rant over...................:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:
 
Is this those prickle ball things that have all the seed holes in them?
 
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Left, ones that fall. Right, they will never rot. These are probably from the dinosaur age.
 
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I smell what you're stepin' in, they propagate and infect the land like mahomedans.
Log an area, it's almost the only weed that takes over. I drop every one i can with a Stihl, the smaller ones I yearly walk the woods around the house with a 10" table saw blade on a weed trimmer.
 
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Left, ones that fall. Right, they will never rot. These are probably from the dinosaur age.

I used to just toss those into the scrub. I didn't realize they were such a big deal.
 
When we were kids we use to thrown them at each other. I remember they do hurt a lot.
 
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I always called them Carolina Maples. Whenever a developer would clear a forest for homes, they always left them and took out all the oaks.
 
The GIL has a minefield of those things.....we cut one down that was close to her house and i decided to use it for fire pit firewood........that stuff was a bear to split.
 
Sweet gum is on the list of most hated trees. Along with Bradford pears.
Other than being weak, what's wrong with a Bradford Pear? They grow fast and are decent for taking up space in the landscape.
 
Other than being weak, what's wrong with a Bradford Pear? They grow fast and are decent for taking up space in the landscape.
they stink, are non naitive and grow sharp spikes on them... every bradford pear should be burned on sight.
 
https://images.search.yahoo.com/yhs...-avg-fh_lsonsw&hspart=avg&hsimp=yhs-fh_lsonsw

Well I'll be damned, somebody figured out how to use them for something other than torture. Maybe this is my way to make a fortune in retirement.
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Can also be used for self defense. Swing the baby at someone and they'll wish they were dead.

they stink, are non naitive and grow sharp spikes on them... every bradford pear should be burned on sight.
I have two in my yard that were here when we moved in 13 years ago and I haven't noticed spikes or a smell.
 
...I have two in my yard that were here when we moved in 13 years ago and I haven't noticed spikes or a smell.
You've never smelled anything when they are in flower?
Like dog crap everywhere.
 
I always called them Carolina Maples. Whenever a developer would clear a forest for homes, they always left them and took out all the oaks.

Seen it. Beautiful wooded lot? Goodbye hickory, maple, oak, sycamore. Keep the pine and sweet gum. Of course, the pine needs to be dinged with the dozer or excavator 3 or 4 times, so it's essentially dead by the time a family moves in and will be a problem in 5 years. The sweet gum you could run over with an Abrams and it will be taller and bushier with 15 more sweet gum around it in 3 weeks.

Bradford Pears smell like rancid seminal fluid. I believe we had a thread previously.
 
When Bradford pears bloom in the spring....they smell like rotten fish and stagnant pee. They also dont last long....average life is about 15 - 20 years if you are lucky. Then you have a job or a bill on your hands. They are not really good for firewood or lumber because they are mostly limbs.

However they do look nice and grow fast.
 
I honestly have never noticed a smell, but then again, I'm not having picnics under them.
 
When Bradford pears bloom in the spring....they smell like rotten fish and stagnant pee. They also dont last long....average life is about 15 - 20 years if you are lucky. Then you have a job or a bill on your hands. They are not really good for firewood or lumber because they are mostly limbs.

However they do look nice and grow fast.

Anywhere you would put a Bradford Pear, put a redbud. Prettier and much hardier (though similar lifespan).
 
Back when Sears was a thing, I was at the one in Crabtree Valley in Raleigh, and they were selling sweet gums. Tag said "beautiful fall foliage, makes shade, fast growing". Couldn't believe it.

The balls never decay, but cut one down and the wood rots away in a season.
 
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