I am no dummy around plants but I have no idea what this mess we are dealing with is called. Every year in the spring, we deal with this, something that can wreak terrible havoc with gutters and downspouts. It is spongy and when wet or rotting or both, it congeals into a mass that can plug up all sorts of things. It is insidious and brought into the house by wind or by a dog with an especially thick coat. We are in that season right now.
Yesterday, I found myself with our rechargeable mini-vacuum on the patio. I normally will use the blower or the Shop Vac but found that the household electric broom does a great job on the dry version of this. I decided that this year I would try to be better about dealing with it. Rather than blow them all around, like the landscapers who blow and leave so much in disarray, I have been collecting them and they are a perfect fodder for the compost heap. Yesterday, I put about two gallons of the stuff in the compost after a short time with the vacuum cleaner. Two days previous to that, I had put about four times that amount in, making a nice layer over the maple helicopter-like seeds.
What is it?
It is, in my estimate, the bud cases of the locust flower or at least something related to the flowering. In the fall, we have to deal with the falling, very small leaves, which are also messy, but we also get these brown bean pods with the locust seeds. This year, as we have found, has been a super year in terms of amounts of maple seeds (which we are still dealing with) and now the locust droppings.
Stewie is like a large, moving, dust attracting Roomba (spelling), but unfortunately his pattern is to take it from the outside in, rather than the more advantageous opposite movement.
From my research on the Internet, the tree is supposed to have very fragrant flowers but I neither see them nor smell their fragrance.
I hate the mess but I hate even more not having trees, so I will shut up!
