🚀 go-pugleaf

Be very careful where you plant Liquidamber. They are large trees with a
correspondingly large root system. I realize that you'll likely not be in
the same house when the tree you planted grows to its ultimate size but the
next generations of occupants will love it if you plant wisely.

Liquidambers were planted as street trees in many neighborhoods in Berkeley
40 to 50 years ago. Along the street where we lived 'til recently, the
City's public works crews come out to one or two houses each year to replace
a sewer line at great expense because the root system has managed to chew it
up. (Each and every tree had been planted directly over a sewer line.) When
mature they are very brittle. They tend to shed major branches in windstorms
and are prone to trunk splitting. Like large ball bearings, the seed pods
are a hazard for pedestrians. They are nonetheless very beautiful.

Tak Nakamoto

Shirley Lin <silk@svpal.org> wrote in message
news:3A350930.627A2B0B@svpal.org...
>
> We have these glorious deciduous trees lining the street in our
> neighborhood.  They're messy, but beautiful and worth planting for their
> fall colors, nice shade in summer, and quaint seed pods which hang on to
> attract birds in the winter.
>