Sweet gum balls soon to be littering my pool...

[cssnms]

My neighbors tree on our property line is a sweet gum so it drops these large spiky balls in the fall - spring. The winter won't be an issue as my pool will be covered but I do have a heater with the intent of extending the season into the fall and opening it up in April.

I am not sure if they float or sink but I'd imagine if they do float they will eventually sink.

Can pool robots manage to pick these things up?

 

[Rocket J Squirrel]

A liquidambar tree? Those balls are devil's spawn. Did you ever step on one in bare feet? Ow ow ow!

The balls are just the right size to clog your pool plumbing if one manages to get past the skimmer basket. When we bought our current home in 2012, the very first thing we did was cut down the 9 liquidambars on our property but we were still finding those nasty balls years later -- at least not in the pool. Sorry I can't answer your robot question; we went for the root (heh) of the problem.

If the tree overhangs your yard, I recommend cutting off all the overhanging branches. Or maybe offer your neighbor to contribute toward removal of the tree. Evil, evil, evil!

 

[Homebrewale]

My robot cannot pick them up. I had to remove them manually with a net. I would watch out for the roots. The tree seeks out water sources.

 

[cssnms]

A liquidambar tree? Those balls are devil's spawn. Did you ever step on one in bare feet? Ow ow ow!

The balls are just the right size to clog your pool plumbing if one manages to get past the skimmer basket. When we bought our current home in 2012, the very first thing we did was cut down the 9 liquidambars on our property but we were still finding those nasty balls years later -- at least not in the pool. Sorry I can't answer your robot question; we went for the root (heh) of the problem.

If the tree overhangs your yard, I recommend cutting off all the overhanging branches. Or maybe offer your neighbor to contribute toward removal of the tree. Evil, evil, evil!

Haha they are all over around here, like land mines and the balls seems to last forever after they've fallen.

Unfortunately the tree is so close to the property line and my pool isn't that far away that even cutting back the branches that overhang my property isn't enough to rid my side of the balls. I swear they sprout mini sails when they fall because they end up in the strangest for away places.

 

[cssnms]

My robot cannot pick them up. I had to remove them manually with a net. I would watch out for the roots. The tree seeks out water sources.

There's so much ground water around here that I'm hopeful my pool shell will be the driest place on our peninsula. It's not a super mature tree currently so maybe next year I'll ask my neighbor if they would let me cut it and down and plant a river birch in its place. Seems like a nice compromise and to get a prettier tree.

 

[JohnT]

Look into Florel spray. It can greatly reduce the fruit.

 

[JohnT]

There's so much ground water around here that I'm hopeful my pool shell will be the driest place on our peninsula. It's not a super mature tree currently so maybe next year I'll ask my neighbor if they would let me cut it and down and plant a river birch in its place. Seems like a nice compromise and to get a prettier tree.

We have a nice river birch you can have. Beautiful tree, but it drops little caterpillar looking flowers by the thousands in the spring, and drops little limbs constantly. wouldn’t want it anywhere close to a pool. As soon as we figure out what to replace it with, it’s coming down.

 

[cssnms]

OK maybe a river birch isn't a good option lol. But Dang it's got to be better than a sweet gum.

I read somewhere that throwing a bunch of nitrogen at it would minimize the fruit too.

 

[Homebrewale]

I would agree a river birch is not a good option. As mentioned, they drop a lot of trigs. Also they have a bunch of surface roots. I just removed two river birches and will be taking down a third this week. How about a Japanese maple? A bloodgood has beautiful color and will not get too large for the space.