WNED PBS brings the backyard to you, live in our studio!

Join us for the premiere episode of Now We’re Gardening LIVE! on Saturday, April 6^th starting at 10:30am. Watch as local gardening experts show us what to do for a solid Spring clean-up, discuss the ins and outs of using indigenous plants in the yard, and explore the new trend for creating Cocktail Herb Gardens!

Whether you are a gardening beginner or a seasoned pro, this one-hour special will inspire and inform you with tips, tricks, and resources to have you “garden-ready” for the season and beyond.

Joining our WNED PBS hosts Heather Hare and Dallas Taylor in the studio are garden experts Mike Braddell of Lakeside Supply Co., Lynn Birkman of Northtown Gardening Center, and Sarah Sorci of Sweet Flag Herbs.

The Western New York region may have a reputation for long winters and record snowfall, but it’s also known for its robust gardening community – boasting one of the oldest Garden Walks and the largest gardening tourism entity in the United States. In the city alone, over 400 residents proudly display their landscape creations during the self-guided Buffalo Garden Walk, which celebrates its 30^th year in 2024. Tens of thousands of visitors are drawn to the Buffalo-Niagara area each summer for numerous garden events, from the Northtowns to the Southtowns and in just about every neighborhood in between. 

Doors open at 9:30am, and you must be in your seat by 10:15am. We will be live on-air from 10:30am - 11:30am. Free parking is available in our gated lot. Attendees must be 15+ years of age.

Now We’re Gardening LIVE! can be attended in person with tickets from Eventbrite, streamed on Buffalo Toronto Public Media’s YouTube channel, and viewed on 17.1 WNED PBS, online, and through the WNED PBS mobile app. 

Now We’re Gardening LIVE! is made possible by our members, and by:

Erie County Climate Action Plan

Urban Roots Cooperative Garden Market

Our friends from Lakeside Sod Supply have generously offered to give one lucky person in the studio audience a FREE BigYellowBag! It contains a full cubic yard of mulch, and is valued at $169! Best of all, the bag will be delivered right to your home. Audience members may enter the drawing prior to the show. You must be present to win. 

Saturday, April 6
Live broadcast begins at 10:30am

WNED Studios, Buffalo Toronto Public Media

140 Lower Terrace,

Downtown Buffalo

Buffalo Toronto Public Media is conveniently located in downtown Buffalo at 140 Lower Terrace, near the I-190. The entrance to our parking lot is on Charles Street (also known as "Mark Russell Alley").

Mike Braddell is a third-generation sod producer and co-owner of Lakeside Sod Supply Co. in Clarence Center, NY. Serving Western New York and Northeast Pennsylvania since 1966, Lakeside Sod supplies dependable products and reliable service for both residential customers’ and industry professionals’ sod, seed, and fertilizer needs. 

Lynn Birkman has been working in the gardening industry for nearly thirty years. She is a graduate of Alfred State College and holds a degree in ornamental horticulture/Landscape Development. Lynn spent ten years as a landscape designer before moving on to retail garden center management, where she is now currently part-owner of Northtown Garden Center in Tonawanda, New York. Offering nursery stock, greenhouse plants and garden décor, Northtown Garden Center has been a local go-to for gardeners for over thirty-five years.

Sarah Sorci is an herbal educator and the owner of Sweet Flag Herbs near Jamestown, NY. Through classes, educational resources, and garden consultations, Sarah facilitates deeper connections with our local ecosystem and our ancestors by way of the plant world. Her collaborative book Living Ancestry: Connecting with Cultural Heritage through Plants, Nature, and Our Senses is available on the Sweet Flag Herbs website and in local stores.

Sarah came to herbalism by way of an Environmental Studies/Sustainable Development degree, farm work, coordinating non-profit projects, and offering therapeutic garden programming. She is a 2014 graduate of the Blue Ridge School of Herbal Medicine's Holistic Herbalism program.

Sarah lives and gardens with her husband in Chautauqua County. For more information about her work and classes, visit sweetflagherbs.com and follow along on Instagram and Facebook @sweetflagherbs.