by Connie Oswald Stofko A gardener recently asked me how he could get grass out of his garden beds. It’s so difficult, he said, because when you pull up on the grass, you may think you’ve got it all, but the root just keeps going and going. All I could do was commiserate. I have stones lining my garden beds in an attempt to keep the lawn on one side and the garden beds on the other, but it doesn’t…
by Connie Oswald Stofko Here’s a question I got from a reader: Hi Connie, I was wondering if you had any suggestions about debugging houseplants that were outside for the summer, before bringing them back inside the house. I have a few plants to bring indoors and noticed little red spiders crawling around. I’m reluctant to have them back in my house. So, are there any “natural” sprays? Should I just “ditch” them? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Btw,…
by Connie Oswald Stofko Here’s an email I got recently from a reader: Hi Connie, Would you be so kind as to post this question for me? I thought we were lacking rain so why do I have these HUGE mushrooms growing in my front lawn that gets lots of sun? This is only my 2nd summer in WNY and I am confused! Thanks a bunch o’ coreopsis, Pam Anderson Lewiston Sometimes I ask readers to share tips…
by Connie Oswald Stofko Here’s a question from a reader: Have you heard of any way to deter pesky little birds from nesting in my hanging planters? Carol Thibault of Elma We love birds visiting our gardens, but I can see where it would be a nuisance if birds nest in hanging baskets. When you try to water your plants, you disturb the birds, and if you don’t water, your plants will die. Plus, the nest may mess up the…
by Connie Oswald Stofko Sometimes readers send me questions that they’d like to get some opinions on, so I share their questions with my readers. Here’s one. Hi Connie, I was given a philodendron in a basket with other plants as a gift over 10 years ago. I give it 20/20/20 every watering which is weekly. For over a year, there is a stalk about 1 inch in diameter supporting extra-large leaves. They are bigger than my hand, so approximately…
by Connie Oswald Stofko Here’s a question from a reader: “My Asiatic lilies were attacked by the lily beetles last year. “This year they (the red lily leaf beetles) are back in my garden. I literally pulled about 6-8 of my lilies and just tossed them out because they were so bad and distressing me– I even tossed out the soil around them. I still have some beetles and twice daily, I go out and look for them and catch…
by Connie Oswald Stofko I got this question from a reader: Hi Connie, How can we be sure that we aren’t buying plants that have been treated with neonics, or grown from seeds containing neonics? Is there a standard label to look for? Or certain brands that don’t deal in them? Thanks. Kristen Buffalo Since I’m not a gardening expert, I contacted someone who knows more about neonicotinoids, which are used in pest control. I talked to John Farfaglia, the…
by Connie Oswald Stofko Here’s a question from a reader: Hi Connie, Last summer we were warned about aster yellows destroying coneflowers. My coneflowers were all infected but I didn’t remove the plants from my garden. Now I’m watching them sprout and I’m wondering if I should be worried. Should I take them out now? Thanks, Eileen Welborn Buffalo Yes, if you saw symptoms of aster yellows disease last year on your coneflowers and you didn’t pull out and carefully…
by Connie Oswald Stofko Here’s a question I received from a reader early last week when the weather became warm and sunny: Hello. Can I plant liatris bulbs now? Or should I wait until the soil warms? Thank you. Linda in Tonawanda In case you’re not familiar with this plant, here’s a little bit of information about liatris. It blooms in summer with large flower spikes that attract butterflies. The plant is drought-resistant, so it doesn’t need much care. It…
by Connie Oswald Stofko Here’s a question from a reader: Hi, I am looking for a book about native plants and weeds in Buffalo or Western New York. My friend likes to walk along the railroad tracks in Buffalo to look at the wildlife but he can’t identify some of the wild flowers and weeds growing along the tracks. Can you suggest a book I could purchase that would show different kinds of native wildflowers and weeds in this region?…
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