You need to do a little planning when choosing a tree for your garden or yard. Unlike a smaller plant, you can’t move a tree each year trying to find the perfect location. You need to pick the right tree for your yard, and the right spot for your tree. We talked to Curt Leising, plant technician at Russell’s Tree and Shrub Farm, 9800 Transit Rd., East Amherst. While there are many factors to take into consideration when choosing a…...
Cornell Cooperative Extension of Niagara County is offering the Master Gardener Training Program this fall. You don’t need to be a resident of Niagara County to participate in this program. These classes provide participants with basic training in a variety of horticultural subjects using class lectures, group discussion questions, quizzes and hands-on activities in our greenhouse and on our grounds. All classes will be held at the Lockport office in the Large Meeting Room of the 4-H Training Center, 4487…...
Here’s a question I got from Diane, a reader: “I would love it if you would settle a long-standing debate regarding roses in the Western New York area. Cut them down in fall or spring?” Lillian Stiegler, president of the Western New York Rose Society, responds, “You don’t prune your roses in the fall. The only exception is if it’s exceptionally tall and you’re afraid it will break in the snow.” If you have climbing roses, you can cut away any dead…...
Garden mums aren’t annuals, but they’re not exactly perennials, either. They will come back next year– if you take the proper steps and are lucky. “They’re called garden mums (rather than perennial or hardy mums) because sometimes they don’t winter over,” explained Ron Heimiller, president and head grower at Heimiller Greenhouses in Newfane. Whether garden mums will survive the winter depends on a number of factors, including your soil conditions and how harsh the winter is, Heimiller said. But there…...
Sometimes as I write a story, I find that I have a great nugget of information, but it just doesn’t fit in well with the rest of the story. These nuggets are too good to waste, so I’ve pulled together three tips to help you enjoy your garden during the fall. Fall Gardening Tip #1: Keep those seat cushions dry. There’s still plenty of time to sit outside and enjoy your garden. However, unlike the dry spells we experienced this…...
A lot of you have asked where you can get red worms for composting. In an April article, we told you that Buffalo Reuse was planning to sell worms for composting. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like they’ll have a stock available anytime soon, so your best bet is to go to a bait shop. I went to Big Catch Bait and Tackle, 2287 Niagara St., Buffalo. Greg Becker, an employee there, said the red worms used for composting are easily…...
Yes, Labor Day is over, but there are still new flowers to plant! If you forgot to water this summer and your flowers are fried, or if you just need a spot of color here or there for fall, look for winter pansies. Mischler’s Florist and Greenhouses, 118 South Forest Rd., Amherst, has them in a four-packs, 6 1/2-inch pots and combined containers. The winter pansies, grown right at Mischler’s, are frost tolerant. They’re capable of withstanding our unpredictable fall weather…....
You’ll be impressed by grand show pieces at the first ever Succulent Show at the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens, and you’ll come away with ideas that you can use on a smaller scale in your garden or inside your home. The show opens this Saturday, Sept. 10, and runs through Oct. 2 at the Botanical Gardens, 2655 South Park Ave., Buffalo. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $8 for adults, $7 for seniors & students,…...
By Sally Cunningham As the kids go back to school and the calendar page turns to September, many gardeners and homeowners seem to hear a bell that says “The End. That’s it. Close up the garden.” And that’s just wrong. We have to change the paradigm. We can do so much in the late summer garden. I’ll be discussing “The Autumn Yard and Garden: To Do and Not To Do” during the Fall Garden Fair on Saturday, Sept. 10 at…...
If your garden has ever been bothered by slugs, you probably already know this great tip about beer. Take an old pie tin, splash in some beer, and set the tin near your affected plants. The slugs crawl in and meet their doom. What you may not know is that slugs prefer Budweiser. At least that’s what Kathryn Olmstead found in her admittedly unscientific study, which she described in an article for the Bangor Daily News. Olmstead edits and designs…...