Category: Garden tips

Garden tips for the Buffalo area.

It’s been a great year for gardening in WNY, and we’ll see you after a short break

by Connie Oswald Stofko This is our last issue for 2013, but we’ll be back with more great gardening tips for Western New York on Tuesday, Jan. 21. In the meantime, I’ll be posting any new events I receive on the Events page. I’ll also post to Facebook and Pinterest, so you can follow me there. I think 2013 has been a great gardening year. It wasn’t without its challenges, of course. We had some wild swings in temperature during…...

Monthly Subscription Membership Required

You must be a Monthly Subscription member to access this content.

Join Now

Already a member? Log in here
Dec 17, 2013
Read More
fruit fly trap in Buffalo NY

What can you do about pesky fruit flies? Please help this reader

by Connie Oswald Stofko Here’s a question from a reader: Dear Connie, We are annoyed by fruit flies. I have a few in every room. I have put out small dishes of apple cider vinegar, commercial “fruit fly trap,” sprayed the dirt in my plants with bug spray, no change. I have no fruit or food on counters. Actually, I think there are none in the kitchen, however, they are in the bathroom (no plants there). There is no one…...

Monthly Subscription Membership Required

You must be a Monthly Subscription member to access this content.

Join Now

Already a member? Log in here
Dec 17, 2013
Read More

Celery update: It’s not going strong, but amazingly, it’s still growing!

by Connie Oswald Stofko Back in March I told you how to start a new celery plant from the celery stump. In September I harvested some of the stalks, but then I left the plant outside to see what it would do. We had a long and mild autumn, and through most of November, the celery plant looked pretty much the same way it did in September– see photo at right. Then we got that cold snap with temperatures in…...

Monthly Subscription Membership Required

You must be a Monthly Subscription member to access this content.

Join Now

Already a member? Log in here
Dec 10, 2013
Read More

Think about your garden when you de-ice your sidewalk

How can you make your sidewalk safe in icy weather while still protecting your garden? John Farfaglia, extension educator with Cornell Cooperative Extension in Niagara County, shares some tips. First, instead of buying rock salt, look for products that are labelled plant or pet safe. These products use calcium chloride, which pose less risk of damaging your plants with soluble salts, Farfaglia said. Still, you shouldn’t overdo it, he said. Don’t spread the calcium chloride product heavily and don’t use…...

Monthly Subscription Membership Required

You must be a Monthly Subscription member to access this content.

Join Now

Already a member? Log in here
Dec 2, 2013
Read More
grow tunnel in Buffalo NY

Grow tunnel lets you grow veggies during winter in Western New York

by Connie Oswald Stofko The temperature was in the teens this past weekend, but the vegetables in the grow tunnel at City Honors School in Buffalo are still going strong. In this video, Caesandra Seawell, garden manager, shows us how the grow tunnel can extend the gardening season, allowing us to grow vegetables in autumn and winter in Western New York. She describes how the grow tunnel was constructed, and it seems pretty easy. There have been some developments since…...

Monthly Subscription Membership Required

You must be a Monthly Subscription member to access this content.

Join Now

Already a member? Log in here
Nov 26, 2013
Read More
video on how to protect herb garden with leaves

Did you rake leaves this weekend? Use them to protect your herb garden

by Connie Oswald Stofko If you’re like the folks in my neighborhood, you were raking up those dry autumn leaves during the beautiful Western New York weather this weekend. But I hope you didn’t set those leaves out to the curb just yet. Instead, use those leaves to prolong the productivity of your herb garden. Caesandra Seawell, garden manager at the garden at City Honors School in Buffalo, also known as Pelion Community Garden, shows us how they use a…...

Monthly Subscription Membership Required

You must be a Monthly Subscription member to access this content.

Join Now

Already a member? Log in here
Nov 19, 2013
Read More

Learn how to compost indoors using worms– & get worms!– in workshop at Reinstein Woods

by Connie Oswald Stofko Learn how to start composting indoors with red wriggler worms in a workshop at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 30 at Reinstein Woods Nature Preserve & Environmental Education Center, 93 Honorine Drive, Depew. The workshop is for both children and adults. You can get a starter kit, which includes worms.  The kits are $4 for the public or  $2 for Friends of Reinstein members. Please make reservations so they know how many starter kits to have on…...

Monthly Subscription Membership Required

You must be a Monthly Subscription member to access this content.

Join Now

Already a member? Log in here
Nov 19, 2013
Read More
pink flower on a Christmas cactus in Buffalo NY

How to care for Christmas cactus in Western New York

by Connie Oswald Stofko Jeff Wilson, who has a Christmas cactus that is probably more than 85 years old, shares some tips with us on how to care for these wonderful indoor plants. We met Wilson and Luis Martinez on Garden Walk Buffalo where they shared their ideas for shade gardening. Wilson’s oldest Christmas cactus is a plant they call “Grandma” because it came from Wilson’s maternal grandmother. However, it had originally been owned by her mother, Wilson’s great-grandmother. Grandma…...

Monthly Subscription Membership Required

You must be a Monthly Subscription member to access this content.

Join Now

Already a member? Log in here
Nov 12, 2013
Read More
Graycliff Landscape

5 tips from Graycliff’s landscape restoration you can use in your own garden

by Connie Oswald Stofko Over the years, many changes were made to the landscape at Graycliff Estate, 6472 Old Lake Shore Rd., Derby. The historic landmark was designed by the famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright as a summer home for Isabelle R. Martin and her husband, Darwin D. Martin, a wealthy Buffalo businessman. To bring Graycliff back to Wright’s original vision, the landscape has been restored to look as it did when it was completed in 1931. Reine Hauser, executive…...

Monthly Subscription Membership Required

You must be a Monthly Subscription member to access this content.

Join Now

Already a member? Log in here
Nov 5, 2013
Read More

How to keep basil over winter: Free class discusses growing tomatoes inside, too

by Connie Oswald Stofko The days are getting shorter and colder and soon we’ll be seeing snow in Western New York, but you can continue to grow food plants– inside! In this article, Jak Kochems, horticulture consultant at Arbordale Nurseries and Landscaping in the Getzville area of Amherst, gives us tips on how to bring basil plants inside and care for them over the winter. If you haven’t already brought your basil plant inside, do it now– a freeze can kill…...

Monthly Subscription Membership Required

You must be a Monthly Subscription member to access this content.

Join Now

Already a member? Log in here
Oct 29, 2013
Read More