Neil Sperry's Mailbag

It probably has a lot more to do with the varieties that were being grown or where in their flowering cycle they were when you saw them. Fragrance of almost any group of flowers will vary from variety to variety. Roses are the classic example. You can smell some varieties as soon as you enter the garden. Others require much closer olfactory inspection. Also, fragrant flowers will have their best aromas early in the lives of the individual flowers and early in the morning as well.

Pretty good testimonial as to why nandinas are so popular where we do want them. The best method is one that you mentioned, and that would be the same broadleafed weedkiller 2, 4-d that we mentioned earlier, applied as a foliar spray to active new growth in mid-spring. Wait until May, then spray at the recommended rate. You'll still have those massive roots to contend with, but at least you'll have killed the top growth. You might try a really heavy-duty rototiller. Beware of any utility lines that might run into your house through their bed.

Absolutely. The tree will recover, assuming it suffers at all. While you have the driveway torn up you might check for any other smaller roots that may be waiting their turn to do your drive harm. Cut a trench along the side of the drive and install some type of root barrier to keep additional roots from causing a problem. You could also install interlocking concrete pavers that would allow you easier access to the soil without breaking solid pieces of concrete.

Oh, no! Blackberries produce fruit on canes that were produced the preceding year. Once they bear fruit, however, those canes will never bear again. That makes early June the best time to cut the canes that have just borne fruit back completely to the ground. "Tip-prune" the new canes this spring to keep them shorter and more compact.

Neil Sperry
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