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  Discussion on Gum trees or Sweet Gum trees and horses
Author Message
Member:
kpscpa

Posted on Friday, Aug 10, 2007 - 7:03 pm:

I just bought some land that has 4 or 5 gum trees in the pasture. How will these trees affect the horses? Are they poisonous or bad for them?

Thanks!

Kathleen
Member:
mrose

Posted on Friday, Aug 10, 2007 - 8:16 pm:

My parents used to live in East Texas where they had a lot of sweet gum trees and they never had any problems with the horses. People chew the gum (dried sap) of the sweet gum, so I wouldn't think it would harm them. You could ck. the site on poisonous plants to be sure. CSU has a good one, and there is one on HA also.

Or...are you referring to Eucalyptus trees which some people call gum trees?
Member:
kpscpa

Posted on Friday, Aug 10, 2007 - 10:08 pm:

Everyone in Virginia calls them Gum trees. I'm from the deep south, and we called them Sweet Gums.

By far, I am not a plant person, but I do remember we had a Eucalyptus tree in my parents front yard as a child growing up. Mom would cut stems to make arrangements in the house. The smell was distinct. Looking up the two on the internet, the leaf of my trees is the star shape.

So between there not being a distinct smell (if we are talking about the same Eucalyptus) and the leaf shape, I am fairly sure these are not Eucalyptus.

I just bought the property and didn't really pay them any mind until one of the excavators giving me prices said they needed to come down (of course and charge me more $$$ for taking them down). I will be out there again on Monday and examine them more closely. I do remember, I thought they were a type of oak.

I just hate to see them go if they are ok for horses and pastures. They are very pretty, and would make great shade.

Thanks!

Kathleen
Member:
mitma

Posted on Saturday, Aug 11, 2007 - 12:15 am:

I just double checked the website of a riding club I belong to that has a list of plants poisonous to horses (www.draggonrunsaddleclub.org "bits of information") and Sweet Gums are NOT listed as being poisonous. I didn't think they were, because I just had all the red maples and black locust trees removed from our pasture (also in VA), but I had the site guys leave the gums... Good Luck!
Martha
Member:
mrose

Posted on Saturday, Aug 11, 2007 - 12:30 am:

If they have rough bark and star shaped leaves and you're in the south, they are probably sweet gums, and I've never heard of anyone (or horse) having a problem with them.
Member:
kpscpa

Posted on Sunday, Aug 12, 2007 - 10:12 pm:

Thanks guys! You have saved some trees from an unsightly death!

Kathleen
Member:
kpscpa

Posted on Sunday, Aug 12, 2007 - 10:16 pm:

Martha, you are "relatively" close to me (my property is in Goochland, VA). Ask your land guy if he happens knows any good farm finishing type contractors in the Richmond area. I only need a tad of cleanup, cut in, and smooth back out. The local co-op can do the lime, seeding part.

Thanks again,

Kathleen
Member:
mitma

Posted on Sunday, Aug 12, 2007 - 11:07 pm:

Hey there neighbor!
Though I live in Richmond (Museum District), I have property in Mathews (where my parents live) and the people I've hired to work on the "farm" have all been "local" Gloucester/Mathews guys, who for the most part are NOT professionals; most are guys who grew up on small family farms, learning how to use tractors, excavators, etc... But, let me make this suggestion... the first person I used to "prepare" the site (where our first little shed-row style barn was placed) was "technically" in the business full-time; I located him by looking in the yellow pages (Gloucester/Mathews) under the heading "land clearing". But, it sounded from your initial posting that you already have someone who has an excavator??? What I've also learned is that, depending on the amount of space you need to "prep" or the size of the structure you want to build/get, you may need to obtain a LAND DISTURBING PERMIT and/or other types of permits from the ZONING office of your municipality... these types of permits come before any actual building permits. It also sounds like you've contacted ?Southern States about pasture seeding and fertilizing, but you may also want to contact your local VA Tech Extension office (they may be able to recommend some "small time" individuals who can do the kind of work you're looking for, plus they can do a soil sample for you (which you definitely need before you plant anything). I can recommend a wonderful (though not always very fast) fence guy, Nevin Ranck, of Ranck's Fencing (www.qualityhorsefence.com)... he's located south of ?Amelia county, but he travels all over central and eastern VA. If you need any further information, feel free to contact me directly via email (memitchell38@hotmail.com). Good Luck!
Martha
Member:
cpacer

Posted on Monday, Aug 13, 2007 - 9:27 am:

Kathleen, I think the only trouble with the sweet gums are the little prickly balls that DrOp off of them. When I had my grading done they wanted to remove the sweet gums because those balls are known to get stuck in hooves, however I haven't really had issues with this.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Aug 14, 2007 - 6:16 am:

Though we have sweet gums locally I have not noticed a problem with the seed pods (balls) either. I may have seen them lodged in the sulcus but they were not causing a problem.
DrO
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