Category: Garden tips

Garden tips for the Buffalo area.

pest and weeds in spring

6 pests & weeds to watch out for during spring in WNY

  by Connie Oswald Stofko Now is the time that certain troublesome insects and weeds can show up in your garden, and now is the time to take action. Today we’ll talk about six insects and weeds to watch out for in spring: red lily leaf beetle, ticks, mosquitoes, lesser celandine, creeping Charlie and crabgrass. Red lily leaf beetle Calls have started coming in from gardeners who have spotted the red lily leaf beetle, so it’s time to look closely…...

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May 8, 2018
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trailing African violet 'Cirelda'

International African violet convention to be held in Buffalo; you can attend

by Connie Oswald Stofko People from across the United States, Canada and the world will come to Buffalo this month for the annual convention of the African Violet Society of America (AVSA), a a joint effort with the African Violet Society of Canada (AVSC). “I’ve even had people from Ukraine and Armenia contact me about how to get visas to come here,” said Judy Niemira, local co-chair for the convention and current president of the African Violet and Gesneriad Society of Western New…...

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May 8, 2018
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front porch on Garden Walk Buffalo

Overgrown backyard becomes relaxed space for entertaining

  By Connie Oswald Stofko The front porch “is like another living room,” said Doug Lilley of Livingston St., Buffalo. “I love sitting out here. It’s peaceful.” When he bought this 150-year-old double seven years ago, the upstairs porch was rotting and needed to be replaced. An addition to the back of the house was rotten and Lilley had to lop off the entire addition. The backyard was so overgrown, it was hard to walk back there. Now the house…...

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May 1, 2018
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Arbor Day poster by student in Grand Island

Arbor Day tree tips, tours & a local poster winner

Trees are so important to our environment that they have their own day– Arbor Day, which falls on this Friday, April 27. How to choose, plant and care for a tree Consider planting a tree on your own property. Do it now; the best time to plant a tree is late winter or early spring before the buds open, according to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). If you can’t work that quickly, consider waiting until autumn. Trees…...

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Apr 24, 2018
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healthy seedling and seedling with damping off

Do your seedlings droop & die? How to prevent damping off

  by Steven Jakobi, Master Gardener Volunteer, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Allegany County After a winter of planning, preparation and expense, few things are more disappointing for the gardener than the failure of seeds to send shoots up from the soil, or watching seedlings emerge, but then suddenly wilt and die. Unfortunately, these situations are fairly common in the field or in the greenhouse under certain conditions. The death of young plants is caused by a group of soil-borne fungi,…...

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Apr 24, 2018
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digging in yard by Stofko

Call 811 to dig safely; enter to win bench/tree combo

  by Connie Oswald Stofko Before you dig up an area for a new garden or plant a tree or dig holes for a fence, you should call 811 or use the online Single Address Ticket. When you make your request, your local utilities come out– for free– and flag where their lines are so you don’t accidentally hit them with your shovel or rototiller. You’d be pretty embarrassed if the whole neighborhood lost its cable because you cut the line. And if…...

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Apr 24, 2018
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delphinium Magic Fountain Mix

‘Perennial’ doesn’t mean ‘live forever’; expect to replant some perennials

  by Connie Oswald Stofko “‘Perennial’ doesn’t mean ‘live forever,’ said Mark Yadon, vice president at Mischler’s Florist and Greenhouses. “Granted, they may come back, but some perennials are short lived and might not last more than three or four years.” It’s best to plant those varieties every two or three years to make sure they don’t die out completely. (All you people who tell me you can’t garden because you don’t have a green thumb: If a perennial died, it…...

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Apr 17, 2018
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tree still has leaves in spring

Will tree that didn’t drop its leaves in winter survive?

by Connie Oswald Stofko I was chatting with one of my subscribers at Plantasia and she mentioned that she has seen trees– Japanese maples as well as other trees– that didn’t lose their leaves over the winter. The leaves are brown, but still attached. “I’m scared because the trees don’t have buds yet,” she said. I noticed the same thing in my neighborhood, so I talked to John Farfaglia, extension educator with Cornell Cooperative Extension in Niagara County. Don’t worry,…...

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Apr 10, 2018
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plastic bottle protecting sprout

Tips on deer, composting & more for Western New York

  by Connie Oswald Stofko I am fortunate that so many Western New Yorkers share gardening tips with me. People often share tips with me after I give a talk. Unfortunately, I am so busy scribbling down notes about the tips themselves that I don’t always get the name of the person who shared the tip. My apologies. Today I’ll share a few of the tips I’ve accumulated. If you have a tip that worked for you, you can share…...

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Apr 3, 2018
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large garden around tree in Grand Island NY

After years of adding gardens, couple finds it’s OK to cut back

  by Connie Oswald Stofko After about 20 years of adding trees and garden beds to their Grand Island landscape, Pat and Gary Scott are slowing down and even reducing the size of some beds. “We have to tone it down a little because it’s a lot of work,” Pat said. “If the gardens get too big, it’s overwhelming.” I visited the Scotts on last year’s Grand Island Garden Walk. This year the Grand Island Garden Walk will be held from 10…...

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Mar 27, 2018
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