Although we can’t control the weather, Amy Ivy reminds gardeners they should pay close attention to it and be prepared to react quickly.We can’t make the wind stop blowing like it did over the weekend, but Amy suggests gardeners create a wind block or temporary hoop to help tender transplants survive windy conditions. From near-drought, to heavy rain, and then the heat that is forecasted for this week, Martha Foley and Amy discuss how gardeners can cope with the changeable North Country weather. [full story]

Much of the region got a good dose of rain over the weekend, and farmers and gardeners will tell you it was a badly needed at the start of the growing season. Water is one of the essential ingredients in gardening, and horticulturist Amy Ivy shares some tips for smart ways to water plants when it's dry. [full story]

Memorial Day means gardening for many people. It's been a dry start to the growing season. Horticulturist Amy Ivy has some tips on watering young plants, seedlings, and trees at the start of the growing season. [full story]

The hunt for the perfect mix of annuals, herbs, and even perennials for containers is part of the fun for gardeners. But where to start? Horticulturist Amy Ivy says a good recipe to follow is the thrillers, fillers, and spillers concept. It's a technique that utilizes three different types of plants to create well-rounded window boxes, urns, and other container gardens. [full story]

So, you want to make a flower box, urn, or hanging basket to rival the glorious arrangements in the greenhouse or garden center. Cooperative Extension's Amy Ivy can help, with information. Step one, like other gardening, is planning and preparation. Is the location too windy and/or sunny for a hanging basket? What's the right mix of potting mix, soil, compost, and other materials for the project? How big is the basket or planter? Lots of questions and answers in this week's conversation. Next week: strategies and design for what to plant, or, thrillers, fillers and spillers. [full story]

Mother's Day weekend is the big one for retail greenhouses and garden centers in this region. But just because you walked out with flats of tender transplants, or a gorgeous hanging basket all in bloom, doesn't mean these pants are ready for outdoor life. Too much of any piece of our mix of up and down spring weather can take a toll: wind, rain, sun or cold. Same goes for the starts under the grow light in the basement. Cooperative Extension's Amy Ivy explains they all need to be toughened up, or "hardened off." [full story]

Both the calendar and the forecast signal a key stage in the flower garden: dividing perennials. It can feel wrong to drive the point of a shovel into the heart of your lovely favorite, but the proof is in the pudding. Cooperative Extension's Amy Ivy says she's her sedum Autumn Joy has hundreds, maybe thousands, of descendants around the region, given away after being divided from the flourishing mother plant. Why do this, and how, in this week's gardening conversation. [full story]

You've had your garden soil tested . . . now what? Cooperative Extension's Amy Ivy lays out the plan for making so-so soil better. And for more drastic areas, how to make your own good topsoil, from scratch. [full story]

When the law starts to green up, a gardener's first impulse might be to get out the fertilizer. Surely, that new growth needs to be fed! Not so fast, and not so simple, says Cooperative Extension's Amy Ivy. Same with the flower and vegetable gardens.The first step is know the soil ph so you know what the soil needs. The second thing to think about is when the fertilizer will really help the plant's overall health. [full story]

Raspberries... or blueberries? Take your pick, or plan for both. Cooperative Extension's Amy Ivy says these two summer favorites require very different conditions, though, and require different levels of care. She makes sense of the differences this week.One new note this year: there's a pest that's pretty much ruling out fall-bearing raspberries these days. They used to be an easier choice, but Amy now says early raspberries are a safer bet. [full story]