Back in the 1930s, it was found that some Alpine plants grew well in tufa, a porous rock formed when water seeps through limestone. Tufa was scarce and expensive, so a few gardeners worked to find an inexpensive and accessible alternative. The product they came up with is called hypertufa. Hypertufa is similar to concrete, but lighter and more porous. You can use it to make planters in whatever size or shape you need. Anne Brierley of the Parkside area…...
When Carol Franklin is outside watering her garden on Prospect Avenue in Buffalo, people will stop and tell her what a good job she’s doing. They don’t expect to find city areas to look as good as this, she explained, but you can have a great garden wherever you are. “Bloom where you are planted,” Franklin said. I visited Franklin this July during Garden Walk Buffalo. Her welcoming front garden wraps around the side of the house and can be…...
Seeds make great stocking stuffers Seeds are already available at some garden centers including Arbodale Nurseries & Landscaping, 480 Dodge Road, Getzville. Slip a packet into a Christmas card for a gardening friend, or use them as a stocking stuffer. Get some seeds for yourself, too. As soon as the holidays are over, I’m always aching to get into the garden, but there’s not much to do when the ground is frozen. That’s why I love this tip on how…...
People who want to buy a gift for a gardener often don’t know what to get. They see an item that they think might be nice, but then wonder if it’s really useful or whether the gardener already has it. Today we’re going to give you five suggestions for gifts that gardeners will love. (If you are a gardener, feel free to drop a few hints by sending this article to someone you love. Or, print out the article and…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko Is the soil in your garden contaminated? If so, is it okay for you or your kids to be working in the soil? Will the vegetables you grow there be safe to eat? The answers to these questions are complicated, and we don’t have all the information we would like. That’s according to Hannah Shayler, extension associate at the Cornell Waste Management Institute. She is working on Healthy Soils, Healthy Communities, a research and education partnership…...
Five tips for the late autumn garden There is still plenty that you can do in your garden, including planting! Here are a few things you can accomplish in your garden right now. They come to us from Jeff Salmon, president of Arbordale Nurseries & Landscaping, 480 Dodge Road, Getzville. The soil is still warm and you can still plant. Late fall plantings will continue to root and establish themselves, so you’ll be farther ahead if you plant now than…...
When it comes to decorating, gardeners like to bring the outdoors inside, and using a nature theme actually makes it easier to transition from fall holidays to winter holidays. Pine cones are great transitional elements, said Mary Gurtler, designer at Lockwood’s Greenhouses, 4484 Clark St., Hamburg. The wine glasses in the photo above are a great example of that. If I describe them as being painted in fall shades of yellow, brown and green, you can picture them on a…...
“I haven’t bought canna lilies in years because they multiply,” said Kristen Suto of Busti Avenue, Buffalo. We visited her lush front yard, which has a view of the Niagara River, during Garden Walk Buffalo in July. Suto has canna lilies in pots and in beds throughout her gardens. The yellow flower in the photo below is another canna lily. If you haven’t already brought in your canna lily bulbs for the winter, do it now. When Suto brings her…...
If you have a whole pumpkin left over from Halloween, here’s an easy way to fancy it up for Thanksgiving. This idea comes to us from Becky Watts, CNLP, garden consultant at Lockwood’s Greenhouses. Take a whole pumpkin. (Note that the green pumpkin in the photo is a real, fresh pumpkin. It’s a variety called Ghirardelli.) Glue Spanish moss to the top of the pumpkin using Aleen’s Craft Glue. Watts said she spreads a band of glue about two inches…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko Autumn leaves are so valuable for your garden. You can rake them onto garden beds to serve as mulch. This can help protect your plants during the winter. After that, many of us still have plenty of leaves left. These are great for compost. Here are three tips to make the most of your autumn leaves. Gather leaves up in a tarp. I used to rake my leaves into a pile. Then I would pick them…...
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