"Tony" wrote in message
...
Hi
I have just moved in to a new house & my neighbour informs me that the
tree
growing up the front of her house & part of mine, is a fig. I have thought
for a number of weeks that a tomcat was spraying at the front of the
house.
I have now cleared all of the overgrown grass & removed the first couple
of
inches of soil & replaced it. The smell still persists. The smell is
very
strong. It can be smelled in the upstairs bedroom just as strong as
downstairs (so I do not think it is a cat).
Can you tell me if a fig tree smells & what I can do about it?
The tree is almost to gutter height (abt 15 feet) & has deeply lobed dark
green leaves (each with 5 'fingers'). When a leaf is broken off a white
sap
(like a dandelion) oozes out.


I've just nipped out and smelled my two fig trees (the dog thought I was
mad). The leaves have a very very faint cat like odour, but this is only
noticeable after rubbing them, and not from more than an inch or so away
from my nose. I know an hotel where the dining room and conservatory is
overhung by several mature, large, fig trees, and I have never noticed any
particular odour from them.

That doesn't mean 'your' fig isn't stinking, for some reason, but they don't
all do it.