by Connie Oswald Stofko “We never throw anything out,” said Ken Haberman of 39 West Ave., Hamburg. He and his wife Shirley have found ways to use scrap material in their gardens. When a driveway was put in, the extra topsoil became raised beds at the front of the house. Broken concrete was used to hold the soil in place and create a lovely terraced effect. When a chimney had to be torn down, they used the flues as tall…
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…
One project every year has turned a fixer-upper house with no garden into a relaxing getaway at 389 Berryman Dr., Snyder. I visited during the 11th annual Snyder-Cleve Hill Garden View, held Sunday, July 14. When Debbie Hanny moved in 13 years ago, “There was no garden. It was a wasteland.” The project in the first year was to install the fence in the front yard. This past fall, she and her partner Jerry Schultze put in the raised bed…
“We’re from New York City,” said Shawn King. “It’s all concrete there. When we got here and saw all this land, we just started planting.” She and her husband, Lew-Jean, have lived for 27 years at 166 Lasalle Ave., Buffalo. I visited them on July 13 during the Samuel P. Capen Garden Walk. “We’ve always had a garden,” Shawn said. “The love of gardening was instilled in me by my grandmother.” In the front yard, a neat arrangement of flowers…
Handmade hardscapes are the highlights of the yard of John Taylor and Mary Brennan-Taylor of 480 Pine St., Lockport. You can see their yard this weekend during Lockport in Bloom, a citywide garden tour to be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, July 13 and 14. The event will also feature Twilight in the Garden from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Saturday only and a vendor fair 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Maps will…
Greg and JoAnne Hudecki of 108 University Ave., Buffalo, have a grassless front yard that started with a burst pipe. After the repair work was done in their yard, they could never get grass to grow. “So my husband kept saying, ‘I’ll just put a plant there, and I’ll just put a plant there,’” JoAnne said. By the time the trouble spots were covered, the front yard was one large garden bed. The Hudeckis shared their gardens during the Samuel…
Catherine Hetzler chooses plants that spread in order to keep her gardens full and to supply plants for the gardens at the Sisters of Mercy Convent and Mt. Mercy Academy. Hetzler, of Lorraine Avenue, shared her gardens during the South Buffalo Alive Annual Tour of Gardens on July 15. After becoming a Master Gardener, Hetzler began volunteering at the Sisters of Mercy Convent. Over the course of 11 years, she has developed 11 foundation beds. For two years she has…
by Connie Oswald Stofko “We thought it was a small garden,” said Jeannette Riley of the grounds of the home she shares with her mother, Alma Riley in Albion. Their property is probably five times as large as a typical suburban yard, though it’s small compared to nearby farms. The Rileys have developed the gardens in stages, and it hasn’t grown too big for them to maintain. But the main reason the garden doesn’t seem massive to Jeannette is because…
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