More adventures of the TV gardener

This week, the timing seemed perfect for me to use our AM Buffalo segment to talk about garden damage and winterizing—figuring that the storm could be considered a rude reminder from mom nature that it’s time to pack up the garden.

My friend and master gardener Gordon (shown above) was my cohort. He brought some dahlia and canna tubers as well as potted tropicals to aid in his discussion of over-wintering. But the questions we got were at a far more basic level.

“What do I do with my rose bush?” (broken canes and never blooms anyway)

“How do I get my hedge to stand upright again?”

“Should I cut back my hydrangea now?”

Everybody wanted to cut stuff back, but I earnestly did my best to convince them to wait until spring. People seem to think they should use the excuse of the storm damage to do a major pruning. Not a good idea. And why does everyone cut back their hydrangeas? Then they wonder why they don’t get any blooms. The calls kept coming, way more than we could take. I did try to stress the importance of hiring professionals to take down the broken branches. Though I know that every daredevil who owns a ladder and a chain saw is out there dicing with death as I write this.

Of course, the thing no one talks about is that the city has not pruned many of the trees it owns (on easeways, etc.) for years. We’ve been begging them to do our block since we moved here seven years ago. The homeowners can’t do it because of the liability.

We'll see what it looks like in spring. I think I'll be able to get my bulbs in this weekend!