Q&A Stump the Chump This issue we continue with our “reverse Q&A,” because our readers are having such a good time with it. The late Professor Donald Wyman, of Harvard’s Arnold Arboretum fame, asserted that this was the tree most often sent in for identification. This tree sports brilliant fall coloration and its fruit is …

By Cathy Monrad This hanging herb garden is a salute to my three favorite activities: gardening, building and cooking. I found many variations of this concept when Googling “indoor herb garden.” And I had a hard time picking a style: shabby chic, rustic, and modern all appealed to me. I decided on transitional. Materials Wood …

Lawns Mow your grass to 3 inches or higher for the healthiest lawn. Longer grass means longer roots below ground and that gives you a healthy thick turf that will crowd out weeds. Mow frequently, keep your mower blade sharp and leave the clippings on the lawn for added nutrients. If you have a widespread …

By Michelle Sutton   My friend Bill likes to say that, for both people and plants, “Volunteers are happiest.” Every year dozens of volunteer vegetable and flower seedlings emerge in my community garden plot, popping up conveniently in corners and inconveniently in the middle of paths.   Either way, I’d always assumed that as volunteers …

By Mary Ruth Smith Photographs by Brent Smith Is there any such thing as too many hostas? Not according to the hosta enthusiasts I recently visited in the Buffalo and Dunkirk areas. Mike and Kathy Shadrack, Marcia Sully, and Ran Lydell are active members and officers of the Western New York Hosta Society, hereinafter referred …