Is Sweetgum deer resistant?
Liquidambar styraciflua
Browsed where deer pressure is high. Protect it.
Rating source: Rutgers NJAES E271
About Sweetgum
Star-shaped leaves that colour through yellow, orange, red and purple on the same tree, often all at once. The spiky seed balls are the drawback: they drop in quantity and are genuinely painful underfoot, so keep it away from lawns and paths, or plant a fruitless cultivar.
Soil and care
- Soil pH
- 5.5 to 6.5
- Drainage
- Consistently moist
- Water
- Moderate
- Spacing
- 236 to 354 in apart
- Growth rate
- Fast
- Maintenance
- Moderate
Deer-resistant alternatives to Sweetgum
Same plant type, hardy in the same zones, but rated better on the Rutgers scale. If Sweetgum keeps getting eaten, these go in the same spot.
Similar to Sweetgum
Other trees with the same deer rating.
- Alternate-Leaved DogwoodCornus alternifoliaZones 3–7Occasionally damaged
- American PersimmonDiospyros virginianaZones 4–9Occasionally damaged
- AppleMalus sp.Zones 4–9, genus rangeOccasionally damaged
- Atlantic White CedarChamaecyparis thyoidesZones 3–9Occasionally damaged
- Atlas CedarCedrus atlanticaZones 6–9Occasionally damaged
- Bald CypressTaxodium distichumZones 4–9Occasionally damaged
Protecting Sweetgum
Whether this survives comes down to local pressure, so it is worth knowing the options before it gets browsed rather than after.
- Protecting a young treeBrowsing costs a season. A buck rubbing a two-inch stem in October girdles it and kills it outright.
- How tall a deer fence needs to beEight feet, and six is the most common expensive mistake in deer fencing.
- Repellent that actually worksThe egg-based recipe that reproduces the active ingredient in the commercial sprays that win university trials.
- Check it is actually deerDeer tear and leave a ragged stub. A clean 45-degree cut is rabbits, and slug holes get blamed on deer constantly.
Where Sweetgum grows
Hardy across most of these 50 states on zone range alone. Mountain and coastal areas sit outside the ranges used here, so check your own zone before ordering.
- Pennsylvanianative
- New Jerseynative
- New Yorknative
- Connecticutnative
- Massachusettsnative
- Virginianative
- Marylandnative
- Michigan
- Wisconsin
- Ohionative
- Indiananative
- Illinoisnative
- Minnesota
- Missourinative
- North Carolinanative
- Tennesseenative
- Georgianative
- Texasnative
- Colorado
- Californianative
- Oregon
- Washington
- New Hampshire
- Vermont
- Maine
- Rhode Islandnative
- Delawarenative
- West Virginianative
- Kentuckynative
- South Carolinanative
- Floridanative
- Alabamanative
- Mississippinative
- Louisiananative
- Arkansasnative
- Oklahomanative
- Kansas
- Nebraska
- Iowa
- South Dakota
- Montana
- Wyoming
- Idaho
- Utah
- Nevada
- Arizona
- New Mexico
- Alaska
- District of Columbianative
- Hawaii
Highlighted states are within its native range according to the USDA PLANTS database, where it is native to 28 US states in total.
Browse from here
Every list Sweetgum belongs to.
Hardy in these zones
Common questions about Sweetgum
- Is Sweetgum deer resistant?
- Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua) is rated Occasionally Severely Damaged on the Rutgers NJAES four-tier scale. Browsed where deer pressure is high. Protect it.
- What hardiness zones does Sweetgum grow in?
- Sweetgum is hardy in USDA zones 5 to 9. Outside that range it will either not survive winter or will struggle with summer heat.
- Does Sweetgum grow in shade?
- No. Sweetgum wants full sun and will grow thin and flop in shade.
- How big does Sweetgum get?
- Mature height is roughly 720–1200 in. Growth rate is fast.