I like sweetgums, but not around a house. They are fast growing, invasive trees with roots that will cause problems on a foundation. The female tree drops spikey round balls all over the place that a lawn mower never seems able to pick up. Those spikey balls are the biggest complaint of them if they are away from a house. The wood isn't really good for anything, but they are a very attractive tree with nice colors in the fall. Here they are like weeds. Mow them down, take them out, do whatever you want to the ground, in a month, they will start growing all over again. I would never spend any time or money on them, but then again, I kill thousands of them every year. I'm keeping plenty of them because they are so pretty in the fall, but given a choice, I prefer a nice oak tree over a sweetgum every day.
Eddie
