Shrub

If you like to garden, today was made to order. The temps climbed into the 70’s F (24C) with just the stirring of a breeze. Can you believe it? After a day in the garden, I have a sore back but a happy spirit. My perfect husband had plans for the afternoon, but still took time to dig a few holes before he left, voluntarily and with no complaining. Coincidentally, we met 19 years ago today. I’m so glad I had the good sense to make sure he danced with me first that night. 🙂

The Man of My Dreams

Where was I…

Oh yeah…digging holes. A few months back, I decided to thin the overgrown shrubs around the fruit cocktail tree, originally thinking I would re-plant with a few annuals. Today we removed the last three overgrown shrubs, making enough room for the two new raspberries. There was also enough room to transplant the blueberry plant, which after three or four years is just limping along. Hopefully the blueberry likes its new home. I’ll be filling in with annuals if not.

Raspberry Cane

Promising new growth on the blueberry shrub

I tamped the dirt into place and stepped back realizing we’d created a micro fruit orchard. I’m using the word “orchard” liberally; with our tiny suburban lot, it all needed to fit into about 6 x 8 feet (1.8 x 2.4 meters) of space. Our micro-orchard has blueberries, raspberries, plums, nectarines, peaches and apricots. When you garden in a tiny plot, every bit of dirt counts.

Since rain is forecast (oh how they tease) I figured I would make good use of the day. I pulled out the last of the broccoli plants, now covered in green pests, before they could multiply further. We dug out some old raspberry canes, and moved them away from the raised beds. Moving them gives me more space to plant vegetables and herbs.

I finished the day raking, pulling out dead twigs, watering the pots (yes…the hose in early March…sigh) and sweeping the walkway.

“An addiction to gardening is not all bad when you consider all the other choices in life.”- Cora Lee Bell

Micro Orchard

The Long View

A row of Viburnum Tinus grow below the window of our den. The plants fill the space nicely between the ramp to the deck and our house. It’s a good-looking shrub, producing pretty flowers and berries during the winter months. But…that smell.

We naively thought the pungent smell was coming from under the house. I thought a small animal might have died in the crawl space. My husband thought a neighborhood cat was spraying and tried a deterrent in the immediate area. The smell was so overpowering when we opened our window in the spring that we started keeping it closed while we researched the cause.

Viburnum tinus, early buds

Viburnum tinus, small buds look like stars and beads

Last summer we noticed the lower leaves were a grayish brown. Turns out we had thrips. Was that what caused the smell? We ordered beneficial insects (the larvae eat the thrips), reassured that we had good insectary sunflowers nearby for the mature adults. Further, I heavily pruned the lower branches, cutting away as much damage as possible. I hauled all the underbrush away from the plants to allow air circulation.

I noticed today that the thrips are back (along with the tell-tale brown leaves) though the plant continues to grow, flower and fruit. I did a little research, and it seems the smell and the thrips are exclusive. According to Plants For a Future the tinus “plants give off an offensive smell in wet weather.” Several writers on the forums describe it as something a dog left.

That’s it! At long last we have our answer. Now what to do about that odoriferous smell?