by Connie Oswald Stofko When you go on garden walks or visit Open Gardens, it’s nice to just gaze at the beautiful landscapes. It’s also helpful to get new, practical ideas you can use in your own yard. We’ll do both in this article, looking at views from the landscape of Sue and Russell Rich in Hamburg. When they moved in 25 years ago, there was almost nothing in the yard, but now they are surrounded by beautiful garden beds…....
by Connie Oswald Stofko The pond in the photo the may look overgrown, but all that foliage serves a purpose: It stops herons from eating fish in the pond. In this article, you can also find details on the last garden walk for 2019: the Black Squirrel Home and Garden Walk in Niagara Falls. Stop herons from eating your fish Marcia Panzarella shared her Camden Ave. landscape last week during the Northwest Buffalo Tour of Gardens. She has a pond,…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko “This is my sanctuary,” said Kathleen Pratt of Amherst. “The waterfall, the fish, the birds — it all brings me such peace.” I visited the home she shares with her husband John during last year’s Town of Amherst Garden Walk. This year, the Town of Amherst Garden Walk will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, July 6. You can see the dates for all of the garden walks here. Even though her yard…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko Local landscapers created gardens at Plantasia this past weekend around the theme of “Plantasia in Paradise.” Various awards were announced at Preview Night on Wednesday. Throughout the rest of the show, visitors were invited to vote for their favorite landscaped garden. It was difficult for many people. I heard one after another say, “Oh, but they were all so good!” After all the votes were counted, Tripi’s Landscaping came out on top and received the People’s…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko My photos, taken in harsh afternoon sunlight, don’t do justice to the landscape of Molly and Douglas Mailey, which I saw on the Hamburg Garden Walk in July. Molly has lush and colorful garden beds. Just by looking, you may be able to pick up on some of the techniques she uses to add beauty to her landscape. She has shady areas, and chooses her plants well to fit the lighting conditions. Her garden beds curve and are allowed…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko Today you can see a short video that gives you a glimpse of the beautiful pond and gardens of Ron and Sandy Baty. If you are inspired by what you see and want to install a pond in your yard, Ron suggests joining the Niagara Frontier Koi and Pond Club. The members are happy to share their knowledge. The Batys shared their landscape on both the daytime and nighttime portions of the Ken-Ton Garden Tour last year…....
by Connie Oswald Stofko After about 20 years of adding trees and garden beds to their Grand Island landscape, Pat and Gary Scott are slowing down and even reducing the size of some beds. “We have to tone it down a little because it’s a lot of work,” Pat said. “If the gardens get too big, it’s overwhelming.” I visited the Scotts on last year’s Grand Island Garden Walk. This year the Grand Island Garden Walk will be held from 10…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko What I want you to notice about these photos are actually the things you can’t see. In the first photo, you don’t see an air conditioner. Instead you see a garden. This was in the yard of Pat Noonan of Hamburg, who shared her landscape on the Hamburg Garden Walk in 2017. I stood right in front of this garden and didn’t know there was an air conditioner there until it was pointed out to me…....
by Connie Oswald Stofko Do you like to keep the water in your fountains splashing on high? Bernie Grosser and Jim Jankowski of West Seneca do. The sound is soothing, especially since there is a noisy convenience store nearby. If some water splashes out of the fountain, it it helps to water the nearby plants. The problem that the West Seneca residents had was that the water level in the fountains would get low, and they had to keep refilling…...
by Connie Oswald Stofko “My favorite flowers are phlox and oriental lilies because they’re fragrant,” said Ed Dinki, “and I love the color. Asiatic lilies are nice, but they’re not too fragrant.” You can get tips like that and see some amazing gardens when you dare to stray from the clusters of gardens at the center of a garden walk map and take a few minutes to visit some of the outliers. The Amherst Garden Walk, which took place July…...
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