Having been introduced to tree ID'ing in the Houston area, there they have
Sweetgums and here you have Sycamores. Appear to be just about the same tree
but Sweetgums have the really pointy round balls...guess they prefer the
higher rainfall Houston gets.

And they are considered a trash tree there, too...fine outside of your
yard...but you have to rake before you can play frisbee if there is one in
your yard :)


John T. Jarrett
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"gary" wrote in message
. ..
The sweetgums in my neighborhood drop those pointy seedballs. So,
females,
I assume. Any info/opinion on the sycamores?
gary


"animaux" wrote in message
...
Sweetgums are beautiful trees. They grow very slowly and back in the
70s
had no
way to be "sexed" and were, in general, considered trash trees. By
trash
tree I
mean they spewed a lot of debris in the form of those wonderful balls
that
pierced my foot many times!




On Thu, 28 Nov 2002 02:10:24 GMT, "gary" wrote:

There are many sycamores in the older parts of Austin where houses were
built around the 1950's but very few seem to have been planted after
that.
In northwest Austin, where houses were built in the 1970's and on,
there
are
very few. Think this relates to different soil or just the tree
falling
out
of fashion? (There are a few young adult sweetgums in my Angus Valley
neighborhood.)
gary



"John T. Jarrett" wrote in message
...
I think the fast-growers the site is advertising are going to require
A
LOT
of supplemental water in our normally almost desert-like summers.
Willows,
Poplars, Sweetgums, Sycamores...if you get out of town and drive
around,
you
will find Black Willows and a few Sycamores growing naturally along
wet
creeks and wet ponds. That is it, tho...not in fields.

You could just use locally available Black Willows for that matter.
They
will grow 8' tall and 3" around in a single year, too...under the
right
conditions...which for a willow is a creekbank. Weeping Willows are
prettier, less tough in our environment, and aren't as interested in
growing
in a tall habit as it sounds like you want.

That said, the houses around me drain to the back of my yard and I
just
planted a Black Willow (that I yanked out of a creekbed down the
road)
where
it stays wet about nine months out of the year. It will need watering
in
the
summer - but so does all the St Augustine around it. Hopefully, it
will
dry
the spot out the rest of the time.

And if you plant a Willow - any willow - keep it 30-60 feet from your
home's
sewer lines...those roots will really spread out searching for water
when
it
gets dry and they will clog up your sewer lines with feeder roots. We
used
to have to use the salt water in the bathtub trick to clean out our
lines
every single month.