by Connie Oswald Stofko In addition to the many garden walks we have in Western New York, we are fortunate to have Open Gardens. The Open Gardens are like garden walks, but they take place on Thursdays and Fridays instead of on weekends, and they happen only during July. And unlike most of the garden walks, which allow any garden in the area of that walk to be listed, Open Gardens include just select gardens. There will be 75…
You can enter your own container garden in the Tiny Garden Contest, which will be held as part of the Williamsville Garden Walk on Saturday, July 21. You don’t have to live in Williamsville to enter. There will be a category for children 12 and under as well as a category for adults. The contest is still a month away, and if you’re not sure how to construct a container garden, you can learn the basics in a free…
The 13th annual Lewiston GardenFest presented by Lewiston Garden Club will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, June 16 and 17 along Center Street in Lewiston. Here are a dozen things you can do at the event: 1. Browse the nearly 80 vendors. Get ideas and merchandise to beautify your own outdoor space from the vendors lining Center Street. They offer flowers, plants, handcrafted art, garden décor and more. 2. Stroll some of Lewiston’s best private gardens. Throughout the…
If you want to share your garden on the Amherst Garden Walk or Hamburg Garden walk, register soon. Amherst Garden Walk Applications are now available for the 2018 Amherst Garden Walk. Applications must be submitted no later than June 17. Sign up for the Amherst Garden walk online or get a printable application here and return it to the address on the form. The Amherst Garden Walk will be be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, July 7. Hamburg Garden Walk…
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…
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…
Gardeners from the Peace Bridge to Main Street and from Canalside to the Scajaquada can be part of the 2018 Garden Walk Buffalo. May 15 is the deadline to sign up to share your garden on Garden Walk Buffalo. You can sign up online. There is no contest and no prizes; the objective of the garden walk has always been to encourage neighborhood beautification and to promote community pride. Just fill out the registration form and your garden can become part…
by Connie Oswald Stofko In the past, people would hide their vegetable gardens in a back corner of the yard. That’s changing, and more and more people boldly display their veggies in garden beds among their ornamental plants. One problem is that vegetables often need even more protection from critters than ornamental plants do. Jane Bednarczyk protects her vegetable plants, and she does it in a way that’s not only attractive, it’s a focal point of the yard. Bednarczyk…
Garden Walk Buffalo is seeking submissions of original artwork to use on posters and other promotional materials for the 2018 event. The submission deadline is Jan. 31, 2018. You can submit any form of art: painting in any medium, photograph, drawing or mixed media. You are limited to five entries. Keep artwork simple. It needs to reproduce well on a variety of materials and items that are sold to promote Garden Walk Buffalo. Artwork should be considered wearable and saleable for…
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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