Garden tips Archives - Page 45 of 98 - Buffalo-NiagaraGardening.com

No matter the color, leaves are gold for your garden

by Connie Oswald Stofko No matter what color they are, autumn leaves are like gold for your garden. You can use them in so many ways, so don’t rake them to the curb. In fact, if you see bags of leaves set out to the curb, take them home! A friend gave me five big bags of leaves last year and I used the last of them about a month ago. I’m ready for more! The two main ways I…...

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Nov 14, 2017

How to deal with insects that move into your house in autumn in WNY

by Steven Jakobi, Master Gardener Volunteer, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Allegany County Autumn is a time for unwanted guests in the house. These insects are like squatters, moving in for the winter and looking for a place to ride out the cold months. In my house, we have to deal with cluster flies, Asian lady beetles and western conifer seed bugs. (Western conifer seed bugs are often confused with the marmorated stink bug.) Other folks I know also have occasional…...

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Nov 14, 2017

Now is the time to start cooling bulbs to force during late winter

by Connie Oswald Stofko You can enjoy spring flowers inside during winter, weeks before they appear outside in gardens, but you may not want to do it the way they do it at the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens. First of all, they force bulbs on a grand scale. (Forcing is getting a plant to bloom at a time when it wouldn’t normally bloom.) Last week they planted about 21,000 bulbs in pots. They can’t plant more because “there’s…...

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Nov 7, 2017

You can sow grass seed in November in WNY

by Connie Oswald Stofko If you have bad patches of lawn, you can take steps in November to repair them by using what is called the dormant seeding method. November isn’t the best time to sow grass seed, but if you missed the ideal period (mid-August to mid-September), you can sow in November, said John Farfaglia, extension educator with Cornell Cooperative Extension in Niagara County. Don’t plant grass seed in late September or in October because the seed will sprout,…...

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Oct 31, 2017

New outdoor trees set at Botanical Gardens arboretum; you can plant trees now, too

by Connie Oswald Stofko The bad news is that some of the trees in the arboretum (outdoor collection of trees) at the Buffalo and Erie Botanical Gardens were damaged and had to be removed. The good news is that new trees will be planted in their place, and the new specimens were chosen to fit into the plan originally designed by famed landscape architect Fredrick Law Olmsted. Even more good news is that the Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy expects to…...

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Oct 24, 2017

Pat Noonan and her bird houses in Hamburg

Tips for dealing with a blank landscape & gardening in later years

by Connie Oswald Stofko When Pat Noonan moved into her Hamburg home in 2011, the yard was totally bare. Noonan, now 88, was at a point in her life when some people give up gardening. And at any point in your life, starting from scratch on a landscape can be daunting. But with help from neighbors and relatives, she now has a landscape that she enjoys. She shared her garden on the Hamburg Garden Walk on Saturday and Sunday, July…...

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Oct 24, 2017

Now is the time to plant bulbs for spring flowers

by Connie Oswald Stofko “Alliums are flowers that people see in the spring, and they come in expecting to buy them,” said Mark Yadon, vice president at Mischler’s Florist and Greenhouses in Williamsville. “It’s showy and they think, ‘I’ve got to have that.’” Although these great flowers appear in spring, you have to plant them in fall. “Right now is the time to plant them,” Yadon said. You can plant them through mid-November, if you can still work the soil…...

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Oct 17, 2017

9 ways to preserve herbs, including drying and freezing

by Pam Jones Master Gardener Volunteer, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Allegany County There are many ways you can continue enjoying the herbs from your garden all winter long– nine ways are described here. Grow on windowsill You can dig up your garden herbs, plant them in pots and bring them inside on a sunny window sill. Rosemary does not overwinter in our area, but will do well inside. If you want to bring herbs inside, do it soon. At the…...

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Oct 10, 2017

What perennials should you cut back in autumn & which add winter interest?

There are still lots of things you can do in the garden now. The Master Gardeners of Erie County have posted new articles in WNY Gardening Matters, including one on what to do in the garden in October. One of the tasks addressed was cutting back perennials. For winter interest, many gardeners like to leave rudbeckia, butterfly weed, mums, heuchera and grasses standing, said author Peggy Koppmann. But there are some perennials that just get ugly after frost and are…...

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Oct 10, 2017

How to overwinter tuberous begonias in Western New York

by Connie Oswald Stofko Here’s a question from a reader: I have beautiful tuberous begonias that I want to overwinter. Do I have to take them out of the soil or can I bring the window box in? Rosemary K. Lyons, Buffalo I thought this was a question many readers might be interested in, so I took it to David Clark, a nationally known gardening educator who teaches the Horticulture I and Horticulture II classes at the Buffalo and Erie…...

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Oct 2, 2017