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Fragrant tree

Can anyone recommend a tree to mask the smell of a dairy farm - the trees will need to be planted about 25 feet from the house - I have heard poplar might be one option - do forum members agree or have any other suggestions?  Thank you.

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  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190

    Love the smell of the farm, you will get used to it. You could carry a posy like they did years ago.

     That would have to be some strong smelling tree to mask cow muck.

    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • Love the smells of a dairy farm - reminds me of home  image

     

    A poultry farm would be a different matter image


    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • WelshonionWelshonion Posts: 3,114
    'Fraid you will have to get used to it. I'm with you Dove. Even enjoy the smell of muck-spreading. Now, pigs and poultry are a different matter......
  • I started life on a dairy farm, then we moved and Pa became a pig farmer - even the smell of pig muck reminds me of home imageimage


    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • I've been spreading manure today around some roses I've moved and quite frankly could use a tree to mask the smell of meimage

    Wearside, England.
  • I too grew up on a farm and still live in the middle of the countryside.  I'm a bit puzzled as to whether or not JR is concerned ref the general "animal" smell or whether it might have been something which only lasted a day or two - farmer spreading slurry over the fields etc.  If the latter, the smell will soon go away but - if it's just that "warm animal" smell he means, it won't!  There's the offchance that the slurry pit on the farm itself might have drainage/run-off issues and if that's the case something probably needs to be done by the farmer himself to sort things out.  There are all sorts of rules & regs these days about storage and disposal of farm waste and I expect that if JR were to have a friendly word with the farmer and explain the problem maybe some sort of solution can be found,

    p.s. forgot to say that the "animal smell" won't be around much at all during the time the cattle are mainly outside - i.e. from late spring until late autumn.  It's only really noticeable when they are housed inside during the cold months and even then the effects are modified by the prevailing wind.  Maybe JR only moved into his present home earlier this year when the cattle were outside for most of the time - apart from when they're being milked - so perhaps the smell "issue" is only something he's noticed recently.  One of the things people don't anticipate when deciding to move from urban areas to the countryside  is that there are likely to be all sorts of rural surprises! 

  • Birdy13Birdy13 Posts: 595

    Hi James,

    Re 'fragrant trees': some years ago we were in the botanical gardens in Oxford and there was a most beautiful fragrance in the air in one part of the garden. I traced it to a tree which I have variously remembered as viburnum stellata or magnolia stellata. I think the magnolia must be the right one because when I did a search I found this link...

    http://www.bluebellnursery.com/catalogue/trees/Magnolia/M/5743347

    ... which looks exactly as I remembered it - beautiful fragrant star shaped flowers. The link says it is slightly fragrant, but I suppose that depends on time of year and how big it is. The video link gives no verbal information but will give you an excellent idea of what the tree can look like. It is also similar in size to the one I found in Oxford.

    I hope this helps.

  • James Ripley wrote (see)

    Can anyone recommend a tree to mask the smell of a dairy farm - the trees will need to be planted about 25 feet from the house - I have heard poplar might be one option - do forum members agree or have any other suggestions?  Thank you.

    I suspect that they might have been referring to the Balsamic poplar, which has fragranced leaves and in warm weather the scent carries on the breeze - but I think this would be much too big a tree to grow near your home.


    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • WelshonionWelshonion Posts: 3,114
    Ha, ha, ha! I can imagine the reaction if the OP had a word with the farmer, friendly or otherwise. Are we allowed to put certain words on the forum?
  • Hi Welshonion - I did say "friendly"!  My neighbour - dairy farmer - is certainly the sort of chap who's utterly what you'd call "approachable" and he'd certainly explain how things worked on a dairy farm if anybody asked him.  Getting to know the neighbours is something we all need to do when we find ourselves somewhere new to us.   I know that my own Pa (dairy farmer) was much loved and respected by everyone.  He'd have said "come on in and tell me what's your problem whilst we have a cup of tea, and then I'll show you the shippon". As I said before, you need to think about it a whole lot before you move to the countryside - and realise that people have to make a living from the land they farm - and all that this entails.  You might not like being held up on a country lane by some cattle moving from field to milking parlour, or having to put up with muddy lanes from time to time, but that's part of what it's all about!   No use moving to a house near a railway line and then complaining about the noise when a train goes past.................

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