The
"sweet gum balls" can be annoying because their are thousands of them,
but I use the prickly balls in the flowerbeds on top of the
mulch--cats avoid my flower beds!

Oh man, I haven't seen a sweet gum ball since 1959. Friend's family
owned a shore in the midst of a sweet gum "forest" on the Patapsco.
Sweet gums apparently like moist soil. That's the only place I've
ever seen them.

Naturally, we spent the days in bathing suits and no shoes.

OUCH! Painful but pleasant memories from the distant past.