by Connie Oswald Stofko If you need a slightly larger trellis or just want a slightly different shape, try this heart-shaped trellis. Take two trellises that are curved on the top. Instead of inserting them into the ground straight up, insert one at an angle to the left and the other at an angle to the right. Use a couple of bungee cords to hold them together. You have a heart-shaped trellis. This tip is from Jennifer Guercio of Buffalo,…...
Tag: Garden tips
Quirky way to add color to your winter garden: Frozen spheres molded inside balloons
by Connie Oswald Stofko If you want to add color to a winter garden, try this easy craft project that even kids can do. The instructions are pretty simple. Take a balloon, squirt some food coloring inside the balloon, then add water the way you would if you were making water balloons during the summer. As you add water, the food coloring will get mixed. Put the balloon outside and let it freeze. When the water is frozen solid, snip…...
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…...
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…...
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…...
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…...
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…...
Small Business Saturday is Nov. 30; support our local shops
When someone hears about Buffalo-NiagaraGardening.com for the first time, they often ask me how I can offer this magazine every week for free. The answer, of course, is that it is supported by local businesses who want to connect with gardeners. And that’s perfect for you because these businesses offer great products and services. Even better, they are located right here in Western New York! You can check out our Gardening Directory to get a glimpse of these great shopping…...
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…...
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…...