Sweet-Gum Tree or Liquidambar
Liquidambar styraciflua (HAMAMELIDACEAE)
Planting and Growing Sweet Gum
You’ll find everything you need to know to plant and grow sweet-gum tree or liquidambar in the accompanying table’s tabs:
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- Flowers, foliage, and seed clusters of sweet gum or liquidambar
- Growing conditions for sweet gum or liquidambar
- When to plant sweet gum or liquidambar
- How to plant sweet gum or liquidambar
- How to prune sweet gum or liquidambar
- Watering, fertilizing, and care of sweet gum or liquidambar
- Landscape uses of sweet gum or liquidambar
- Pest and disease control for sweet gum or liquidambar
Growing Sweet-Gum Trees
Slow-growing, broad, symmetrical, open, deciduous tree, to 120 ft. (37 m) tall and 50 ft. (15 m) wide, with glossy, maplelike, deep green, deeply toothed leaves, 4–7 in. (10–18 cm) wide, turning purple, red, yellow in autumn, and with furrowed bark.
Chinese sweet-gum, Liquidambar formosana, and Oriental sweet-gum, Liquidambar orientalis, are closely related species with similar care needs.
Sweet Gum Planting and Care Guide
Flowers and Seeds
Inconspicuous small flowers, in spring, borne in dangling clusters, form round, 1–2 in. (25–50 mm), spiny, dangling seed clusters, in autumn.
Best Climates
U.S.D.A. Plant Hardiness Zones 5–9; ground hardy, zones 6–9.
Soil Type and Fertility
Moist, well-drained soil. Fertility: Rich. 6.5–7.0 pH.
Where and How to Plant
Full sun to partial shade. Space 25–30 ft. (7.5–9 m) apart, after soil warms. Transplant in spring.
Proper Care
Easy. Allow soil surface to dry between waterings until established. Fertilize semi-annually spring–autumn. Prune sparingly in autumn. Transplants readily. Propagate by seed.
About This Species
Good choice for accents, specimens in most gardens. Shallow rooted. Chlorosis susceptible.