 |
Sweetgum
Liquidambar Styraciflua Worplesdon
This is a large, handsome, fast growing, hardwood deciduous tree with star-shaped, Maple-like, shiny green leaves that have finely serrated margins and attractive, subtle veining. These give off a pleasant, sweet fragrance when crushed and take on a range of spectacular colours from bright yellow to deep burgundy red during the autumn. It produces upright racemes of small, bright green flowers on slender stalks from March to April and displays clusters of large, pendulous, woody-brown, spherical fruit capsules during the autumn. The fruits are hard, spiny and golf-ball sized and dangles from the branches after the leaves have dropped. It has an upright main stem and beautifully symmetric, cone-shaped crown that becomes more rounded as the tree matures. Its fast growth habit and tolerance of a wide range of conditions makes it a good choice as a street tree, shade tree or using as a windbreak and the fruits are great for attracting birds and squirrels to the garden.
Position:
Prefers partial shade
Soil:
Any reasonable, moisture-retentive soil that doesn’t become waterlogged
Rate of Growth:
Average to fast
Flowering Period:
March to April
Flower Colour:
Yellow-Green
Other Features:
It stays looking attractive all year round and is resistant to pests and diseases. In olden days, a gum was obtained by peeling back the bark and scraping off the resin-like solid and the tree is still used in furniture making, cabinetwork, veneer, plywood, pulpwood, barrels and boxes. Its grey-brown bark with irregular furrows and rough rounded ridges is another attractive feature
Hardiness:
Fully hardy: stands a temperature down to -15°C
Garden Care:
Back-filled with plenty of well-rotted garden compost and stake firmly when planting. For a balanced development, it is best to position the Sweetgum in a place where it is exposed to at least a few hours of direct sunlight each day. Although it is drought tolerant once established, it should be watered during long period of hot, dry weather when young. Likewise, it can withstand very harsh conditions when mature but may require some protection from the coldest winter frosts for the first few years after planting
Eventual Height: 25m, prune to size
Eventual Spread:
18m
|
Approx Pot Size |
Approx Height |
Price |
|
|
|
Unfortunately, this plant is currently unavailable |
|
|