They're pretty and provide good shade, but I curse them every time I have to rake leaves in the fall. Those spikey seed balls like to burrow in the turf or clog up the rake or ...

:-)

We had some [link|http://www.naturehills.com/new/product/productdetails.aspx?proname=Black+Gum|black gum] trees in our back yard when we bought the place. They had very pretty leaves in the fall. But the previous owner(s) were nuts about shade and there were (literally) about 15 of them growing in a 10x10 area. We spent weeks raking leaves in the fall... They were all weak due to not getting enough sun, etc., so we had them cut down a couple of years after we moved in. I don't know what a single, lone, tree would be like.

Cheers,
Scott.