Down The Garden Path Podcast

In this episode of Down the Garden Path, landscape designer Joanne Shaw discusses Hosta Virus X with returning guest Dawn Golloher from Gardens Plus. Dawn Golloher is the owner-operator of Gardens Plus, an independent garden centre in Peterborough, Ontario, specializing in easy-care perennials.  Here are some of the questions and topics covered in this episode: Can you tell us more about Hosta Virus X? The virus was first discovered in 1996. It spreads from the sap in the hosta leaves and roots. The best way to protect your plants is to buy from reputable sources and to practice good hygiene when dividing or cleaning up hostas. Use disinfectant wipes or have a bottle of diluted bleach handy to spray down your tools and then wipe off. This would help many things from spreading throughout our gardens, including powdery mildew. Hosta Virus X doesn’t kill the hosta. It will just have mottled or blotchy colouring and the hostas may not thrive in the long run. It will also not spread to other perennials in your garden. The best way to remove an infected plant Three ways to recognize Hosta Virus X: ink bleeding mottled tissue collapsed tissue Gardens Plus is opening May 9th this year and will be open Thursday to Sunday until June 30th, 2024. Find Gardens Plus online: www.GardensPlus.ca Facebook: @gardensplus Instagram: @gardensplus YouTube: @gardensplus Pinterest: @gardensplus Twitter: @gardensplus Find Down the Garden Path online: Find Down the Garden Path on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube: @downthegardenpathpodcast. You can also email your questions and comments to downthegardenpathpodcast@hotmail.com, or connect with Joanne via her website: down2earth.ca Down the Garden Path Podcast On Down The Garden Path, professional landscape designer Joanne Shaw discusses down-to-earth tips and advice for your plants, gardens and landscapes. As the owner of Down2Earth Landscape Design, Joanne Shaw has been designing beautiful gardens for homeowners east of Toronto for over a decade. She does her best to bring you interesting, relevant and useful topics to help you keep your garden as low maintenance as possible.  In Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden, Joanne and fellow landscape designer Matthew Dressing distill their horticultural and design expertise and combined experiences in helping others create and maintain thriving gardens into one easy-to-read monthly reference guide. Get your copy today on Amazon. Don't forget to check out Down the Garden Path on your favourite podcast app and subscribe! You can now catch the podcast on YouTube.

This week on Down the Garden Path, Joanne Shaw welcomes Garden Media's Katie Dubow back to the podcast to discuss new plants and products for 2024. About Katie Dubow Katie Dubow is the president of Garden Media Group, a women-owned and run public relations firm specializing in the home and garden industry and celebrating its 31st year in business. Author of the annual Garden Trends Report, Dubow travels the world scouting and presenting garden trends to audiences from Italy to Chicago. Some of the questions and topics covered: The spring runways shows are in full swing Foraging brings the beauty of nature indoors What is foraging? Are there tools for foraging that make it easy to do? Knock Out roses are easy-care year-round blooming roses What’s new this spring? Azaleas are beautiful shrubs, but gardeners should know about new Autumn azaleas: what are they? What is a combo that will attract bees, birds, and butterflies? What have you found works for a succulent garden and provides resources for night pollinators? Spring is the season for migration and having food as they travel back north: what do you suggest for our yards? What are other organic products that support a healthy environment? Tomatoes are one of the most popular vegetables to grow in the garden or containers, especially cherry tomatoes What is your favourite this year? Where can listeners learn more about these new garden Superstar flowers and products? Follow Katie Dubow online: Facebook: KatieGardenGirl Instagram: KatieGMG Find Garden Media Group online: Website: www.gardenmediagroup.com Facebook: Garden Media Group Instagram: GardenMedia Pinterest: GardenMedia LinkedIn: Garden Media Group Twitter: GardenMedia Find Down the Garden Path online: Find Down the Garden Path on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube: @downthegardenpathpodcast. You can also email your questions and comments to downthegardenpathpodcast@hotmail.com, or connect with Joanne via her website: down2earth.ca Down the Garden Path Podcast On Down The Garden Path, professional landscape designer Joanne Shaw discusses down-to-earth tips and advice for your plants, gardens and landscapes. As the owner of Down2Earth Landscape Design, Joanne Shaw has been designing beautiful gardens for homeowners east of Toronto for over a decade. She does her best to bring you interesting, relevant and useful topics to help you keep your garden as low maintenance as possible.  In Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden, Joanne and fellow landscape designer Matthew Dressing distill their horticultural and design expertise and combined experiences in helping others create and maintain thriving gardens into one easy-to-read monthly reference guide. Get your copy today on Amazon. Don't forget to check out Down the Garden Path on your favourite podcast app and subscribe! You can now catch the podcast on YouTube.

In this episode of Down the Garden Path, landscape designer Joanne Shaw discusses hellebores with returning guest Dawn Golloher from Gardens Plus. Dawn Golloher is the owner-operator of Gardens Plus, an independent garden centre in Peterborough, Ontario, specializing in easy-care perennials.  Here are some of the questions and topics covered in this episode: Can you give us a bit of a history on hellebores? There are several classifications of hellebores. Helleborus niger and Helleborus orientalis are the most common. Helleborus niger also called Christmas Rose. Native to the mountains of southern and central Europe. Christmas Rose can bloom around Christmas time in warmer regions. It is an early blooming perennial for part-shade to shade conditions. They have rose-like petals, some single and some double. The foliage often comes up after the flowers are evergreen. They are a low-maintenance, slow-growing plant and long living in your garden. Because they are slow growing, they are often quite expensive. Helleborus orientalis is slightly larger than Helleborus niger and is also called Lenten Rose. It is native to Asia Minor, Eurasia, Greece and Turkey. Also blooms late winter into spring. The foliage is dark glossy green, evergreen and palmately divided. They require shady to part-shade conditions, but it is important to note that they need well-drained moist soil. Not recommended for dry shade. The flowers are distinctive and a lovely palette of colours is available, so it is hard to have only one in the garden. Thanks to their early blooming, they do make a good pollinators. They are disease-resistant, toxic to cats and dogs (so bitter tasting that they really never get eaten) and deer-resistant, as well. Some of the favourites that Dawn highlighted were: Ivory Prince (hardy for lower zones) The Wedding Party series of double-flowering hellebores, including Blushing Bride, Confetti Cake The Honeymoon series of single-petaled flowers New York Night and Carnival Dawn provided some other easy-care perennial recommendations for this year. How is Gardens Plus different from larger nurseries? They add a personal touch to everything that they do. Gardens Plus is opening May 9th this year and will be open Thursday to Sunday until June 30th, 2024. Find Gardens Plus online: www.GardensPlus.ca Facebook: @gardensplus Instagram: @gardensplus YouTube: @gardensplus Pinterest: @gardensplus Twitter: @gardensplus Find Down the Garden Path online: Find Down the Garden Path on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube: @downthegardenpathpodcast. You can also email your questions and comments to downthegardenpathpodcast@hotmail.com, or connect with Joanne via her website: down2earth.ca Down the Garden Path Podcast On Down The Garden Path, professional landscape designer Joanne Shaw discusses down-to-earth tips and advice for your plants, gardens and landscapes. As the owner of Down2Earth Landscape Design, Joanne Shaw has been designing beautiful gardens for homeowners east of Toronto for over a decade. She does her best to bring you interesting, relevant and useful topics to help you keep your garden as low maintenance as possible.  Her book Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden is available on Amazon. Don't forget to check out Down the Garden Path on your favourite podcast app and subscribe! You can now catch the podcast on YouTube.

In this episode of Down the Garden Path, Joanne Shaw welcomes author Margot Anne Kelley to discuss her new book, A Gardener at the End of the World. A gardener’s pandemic journal that combines memoir with an exploration of the natural world both inside and outside the garden, it explores questions of what we can preserve - of history, genetic biodiversity, culture, language and what we cannot. It is ideal for any reader curious about the overlap of nature, science and history. Here are some of the topics covered in this episode: Margot’s pandemic journal and interest in seeds became the raw material out of which the book evolved. The book is a gardener's pandemic journal with a lovely overview of her garden throughout the season, complemented with a timely history of previous world pandemics and how they related to the current one as a way to understand what was going on. An overview of seeds and plants and their origins, and how they travelled the world and impacted how and what we eat now. How researching past plagues and pandemics was therapeutic: the human race survived many horrible things before and it gave her hope that we would prevail again We can all relate to Margot's solace in her evolving garden, as many of us turned to gardening during that time and even still see the importance of growing our food or at least supporting those who do. A Gardener at the End of the World is available on Amazon. Find more information about Margot Anne Kelley: Website: www.margotannekelley.com Social Media: @margotannekelley Find Down the Garden Path on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube: @downthegardenpathpodcast. You can also email your questions and comments to downthegardenpathpodcast@hotmail.com, or connect with Joanne via her website: down2earth.ca Down the Garden Path Podcast On Down The Garden Path, professional landscape designer Joanne Shaw discusses down-to-earth tips and advice for your plants, gardens and landscapes. As the owner of Down2Earth Landscape Design, Joanne Shaw has been designing beautiful gardens for homeowners east of Toronto for over a decade. She does her best to bring you interesting, relevant and useful topics to help you keep your garden as low maintenance as possible.  Her book Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden is available on Amazon. Don't forget to check out Down the Garden Path on your favourite podcast app and subscribe! You can now catch the podcast on YouTube.

In this episode of Down the Garden Path, Joanne Shaw welcomes Tom Watson from BOLD to discuss landscape lightning. Tom Watson is a Senior Business Development Manager with BOLD (Best Outdoor Living Design), focusing on his territory in Central Ontario. After working in business operations for over nine years, leveraging cutting-edge technologies for strategic growth and process improvement, Tom entered the outdoor lighting industry. Here are some of the questions and topics covered in this episode: Tell us more about BOLD, the new industry-leading landscape lighting company Landscape lighting is so important, why do you think it can sometimes be forgotten? We forget about evenings at times during the landscape planning process. Now that many want to use their outdoor spaces, people are realizing the importance of lighting the space. New landscape lighting can be added to existing landscapes. The impact is immediate when homeowners can now use their outdoor spaces in the evening and entertain longer on the weekends. Mature plants and gardens look beautiful when highlighted with proper low-voltage lighting. Tom refers to this as painting with light! BOLD lights are CRI 90 or above. Sunlight is 100. They come with a 7-year warranty. Are you seeing new trends in landscape lighting? Black is still the most popular fixture colour. New shape is a reflection of some new shapes in the interlocking industry Smart technology is also popular. Products can be set up and managed through Google Home, Alexa etc. Where can contractors' homeowners see BOLD products? Products are available at landscaping dealers. oDisplays will be there for people wh want to see them in person. BOLD is currently offering Mini Acadamy training to landscapers and designers. Find more information about BOLD: Website: www.boldpros.com Instagram: @boldpros @boldpros_tom Facebook: @boldpros Find Down the Garden Path on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube: @downthegardenpathpodcast. You can also email your questions and comments to downthegardenpathpodcast@hotmail.com, or connect with Joanne via her website: down2earth.ca Down the Garden Path Podcast On Down The Garden Path, professional landscape designer Joanne Shaw discusses down-to-earth tips and advice for your plants, gardens and landscapes. As the owner of Down2Earth Landscape Design, Joanne Shaw has been designing beautiful gardens for homeowners east of Toronto for over a decade. She does her best to bring you interesting, relevant and useful topics to help you keep your garden as low maintenance as possible. In Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden, Joanne and fellow landscape designer Matthew Dressing distill their horticultural and design expertise and combined experiences in helping others create and maintain thriving gardens into one easy-to-read monthly reference guide. Get your copy today on Amazon. Don't forget to check out Down the Garden Path on your favourite podcast app and subscribe! You can now catch the podcast on YouTube.

In this episode of Down the Garden Path, Joanne Shaw welcomes Nick and Hilary VanderHeide of Creekside Growers to discuss their dahlia farm in Delhi, Ontario. Nick and Hilary VanderHeide started Creekside Growers in 2009 on a farm in a little-known Ontario Hamlet called Hartford, about 45 minutes outside Hamilton toward Lake Erie. Since the start of Creekside Growers in 2009, Nick and Hilary have grown the business into many different sectors. Creekside Growers started as a field-grown wholesale cut peony producer and has since diversified into field-grown wholesale cut dahlias, greenhouse-grown wholesale cut dahlias, and greenhouse-grown dahlia plugs produced from cuttings. Dahlia tubers produced from divisions and cuttings are sold to both wholesale and retail customers. In 2017, Creekside Growers moved to a new farm outside Delhi, Ontario in Norfolk County and has expanded every year since. They farm on 14 acres and 1 acre of greenhouse. Nick and Hilary raise their four children right on the farm where they are homeschooled and have tons of opportunities to be part of the business, learning everything from growing to marketing and even farming finances. Hilary also has a thriving onsite store, The Flower Shack, and the largest u-cut dahlia field in Canada that caters to cash-and-carry customers as well as providing services for weddings, funerals, events, etc. It is a full-service flower shop catering to the Norfolk County area. They also sell a Bloom Box which contains recommended dahlia varieties, fertilizer, quality plant tags and quality clippers. Nicks parting tip: A little bleach in the water helps cut dahlias last longer! Creekside Growers sells all their dahlia tubers through their online store at CreeksideGrowers.ca. Find more information about Creekside Growers: Website: www.creeksidegrowers.ca Instagram: creeksidegrow Facebook: @creeksidegrow Find Down the Garden Path on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube: @downthegardenpathpodcast. You can also email your questions and comments to downthegardenpathpodcast@hotmail.com, or connect with Joanne via her website: down2earth.ca Down the Garden Path Podcast On Down The Garden Path, professional landscape designer Joanne Shaw discusses down-to-earth tips and advice for your plants, gardens and landscapes. As the owner of Down2Earth Landscape Design, Joanne Shaw has been designing beautiful gardens for homeowners east of Toronto for over a decade. She does her best to bring you interesting, relevant and useful topics to help you keep your garden as low maintenance as possible.  In Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden, Joanne and fellow landscape designer Matthew Dressing distill their horticultural and design expertise and combined experiences in helping others create and maintain thriving gardens into one easy-to-read monthly reference guide. Get your copy today on Amazon. Don't forget to check out Down the Garden Path on your favourite podcast app and subscribe! You can now catch the podcast on YouTube.

In this episode of Down the Garden Path, Joanne Shaw welcomes Elaine Willis to the podcast to discuss Unilock's focus on sustainability.  Unilock is North America's premier manufacturer of concrete interlocking paving stones and segmental wall products. For 50 years, Unilock has been helping people create beautiful outdoor spaces. Elaine embarked on her career at Unilock over 25 years ago, leveraging her blend of sales and design expertise. In 2023, she embraced a new opportunity as the inaugural Director of Sustainability, steering Unilock towards carbon neutrality while fostering a legacy of beautiful landscapes that enhance our lives and health and champion environmental stewardship. Here are some of the questions and topics covered in this episode: Simple definition of sustainability: meeting our own needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Areas Elaine is looking at: Water use in the manufacturing process Solar panels installed at Unilock’s plant in Ohio as a pilot project Move toward electric vehicles and forklifts Investigate chemical technologies SCMS – alternative binding materials Percentage of cement in the concrete mix Permeable pavers, joint spacers and the benefits of an open graded base to allow water to filter down Architects and designers can have a significant impact throughout the construction phase of a residential or business hardscape project by addressing the issues of embodied carbon before construction begins. What is the role of designers and architects in this process? Unilock was the first concrete paver manufacturer in North America to offer a Transferable Lifetime Guarantee Now breaking new ground with their Sustainability Statement They are committed to becoming a carbon-neutral company and have implemented initiatives that minimize their use of fossil fuels, recycle and harvest water and replace cement in our products. By working toward this goal, they are making their products and company more sustainable. Find more information about Unilock: Website: www.unilock.com Instagram: @unilock Facebook: @unilock Find Down the Garden Path on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube: @downthegardenpathpodcast. You can also email your questions and comments to downthegardenpathpodcast@hotmail.com, or connect with Joanne via her website: down2earth.ca Down the Garden Path Podcast On Down The Garden Path, professional landscape designer Joanne Shaw discusses down-to-earth tips and advice for your plants, gardens and landscapes. As the owner of Down2Earth Landscape Design, Joanne Shaw has been designing beautiful gardens for homeowners east of Toronto for over a decade. She does her best to bring you interesting, relevant and useful topics to help you keep your garden as low maintenance as possible.  In Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden, Joanne and fellow landscape designer Matthew Dressing distill their horticultural and design expertise and combined experiences in helping others create and maintain thriving gardens into one easy-to-read monthly reference guide. Get your copy today on Amazon. Don't forget to check out Down the Garden Path on your favourite podcast app and subscribe! You can now catch the podcast on YouTube.

In this episode of Down the Garden Path, Joanne Shaw welcomes Julia Dimakos back to the podcast to discuss microgreens and sprouting. Julia Dimakos’ 7000 square foot kitchen garden is in Mono, Ontario, on 25 acres on the Niagara Escarpment. Julia has been growing vegetables and writing about gardening for over 13 years. She was twice published in Canadian Organic Grower magazine and became a published author in July 2022 with her first book, Tea Gardening for Beginners. Here are some of the questions and topics covered in this episode: SPROUTING Sprouting involves soaking seeds, nuts, legumes or grains for several hours, then rinsing at least three times a day until they begin to develop a tail-like protrusion, a cotyledon (aka seed leaf). The first two leaves of the plant grow from the cotyledon. Soaking softens the hull, allowing the sprout to grow. They are usually ready to use when the sprout is ¼ inch. Process: Use glass jar, close to the kitchen sink Sprouting lids can be purchased on line. Metal screen lids are preferred. Jar needs to “hang” at a 45-degree angle to prevent standing water. Jar stand also available online. Rinse them 3 times a day. A few seed options discussed: dry chickpeas, dry lentils, peas, alfalfa, broccoli, kale, mung beans, fenugreek MICROGREENS Microgreens are vegetable greens (not to be confused with sprouts or shoots) harvested just after the cotyledon leaves have developed with one set of true leaves. They are used as a visual, flavour and texture enhancement. Microgreens are used to add sweetness and spiciness to foods. Process: They need to be grown in a sterile environment like seed starting mix, seed mats or coir. Spread seeds according to seed instructions in large layered trays. Most seeds must be weighed down to force roots to grow ‘down.’ Seeds do not need light until they start to germinate. Once they start to grow, they need to be ‘finished’ with grow lights. Cut stems with a sharp knife or scissors. Greens are clean and do not need to be washed. Suppliers recommended by Julia: Mumm’s Seeds West Coast Seeds Where you can find Julia Dimakos: Website: www.juliadimakos.com Instagram: @juliadimakos YouTube: @gardeninggirl  Find Down the Garden Path on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube: @downthegardenpathpodcast. You can also email your questions and comments to downthegardenpathpodcast@hotmail.com, or connect with Joanne via her website: down2earth.ca Down the Garden Path Podcast On Down The Garden Path, professional landscape designer Joanne Shaw discusses down-to-earth tips and advice for your plants, gardens and landscapes. As the owner of Down2Earth Landscape Design, Joanne Shaw has been designing beautiful gardens for homeowners east of Toronto for over a decade. She does her best to bring you interesting, relevant and useful topics to help you keep your garden as low maintenance as possible.  In Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden, Joanne and fellow landscape designer Matthew Dressing distill their horticultural and design expertise and their combined experiences in helping others create and maintain thriving gardens into one easy-to-read monthly reference guide. Get your copy today on Amazon. Don't forget to check out Down the Garden Path on your favourite podcast app and subscribe! You can now catch the podcast on YouTube.

Before Down the Garden Path became a podcast, it was a weekly radio show on RealityRadio101.com! In this last installment of our "vintage" podcast episodes from 2017, Joanne Shaw and Matthew Dressing learn more about ponds and their ecosystems with Aquascape's Ernest Williams. Ernest educates listeners on water treatments, beneficial bacteria and best practices in pond maintenance. They discuss the importance of plants and review the math required to calculate how many fish to put in a pond to keep everything balanced. Tune in to learn more about what Aquascape has to offer. Find Down the Garden Path on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube: @downthegardenpathpodcast. You can also email your questions and comments to downthegardenpathpodcast@hotmail.com, or connect with Joanne via her website: down2earth.ca Down the Garden Path Podcast On Down The Garden Path, professional landscape designer Joanne Shaw discusses down-to-earth tips and advice for your plants, gardens and landscapes. As the owner of Down2Earth Landscape Design, Joanne Shaw has been designing beautiful gardens for homeowners east of Toronto for over a decade. She does her best to bring you interesting, relevant and useful topics to help you keep your garden as low maintenance as possible.  In Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden, Joanne and fellow landscape designer Matthew Dressing distill their horticultural and design expertise and their combined experiences in helping others create and maintain thriving gardens into one easy-to-read monthly reference guide. Get your copy today on Amazon. Don't forget to check out Down the Garden Path on your favourite podcast app and subscribe! You can now catch the podcast on YouTube.

Before Down the Garden Path became a podcast, it was a weekly radio show on RealityRadio101.com! In this "vintage" episode from April 2017, Joanne Shaw and Matthew Dressing discuss some common misconceptions about water features with Aquascape's Ernest Williams. They also talk about the different liner options and how to calculate the correct size pump. (Yes, they had to do some MATH!) Tune in to learn more about what Aquascape has to offer. Find Down the Garden Path on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube: @downthegardenpathpodcast. Email your questions and comments to downthegardenpathpodcast@hotmail.com, or connect with Joanne via her website: down2earth.ca Down the Garden Path Podcast On Down The Garden Path, professional landscape designer Joanne Shaw discusses down-to-earth tips and advice for your plants, gardens and landscapes. As the owner of Down2Earth Landscape Design, Joanne Shaw has been designing beautiful gardens for homeowners east of Toronto for over a decade. She does her best to bring you interesting, relevant and useful topics to help you keep your garden as low maintenance as possible.  In Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden, Joanne and fellow landscape designer Matthew Dressing distill their horticultural and design expertise and their combined experiences in helping others create and maintain thriving gardens into one easy-to-read monthly reference guide. Get your copy today on Amazon. Don't forget to check out Down the Garden Path on your favourite podcast app and subscribe! You can now catch the podcast on YouTube.

Before Down the Garden Path became a podcast, it was a weekly radio show on RealityRadio101.com! In part two of this "vintage" episode from October 2016, Joanne Shaw continues her discussion with highly regarded landscape designer, author and teacher, Jan Johnsen. They explore many of the ancient traditions from all over the world that Jan writes about in her book, Heaven is a Garden - Designing Serene Outdoor Spaces for Inspiration and Reflection, and how  they can be applied to modern landscape design. Listen and enjoy! Find Down the Garden Path on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube: @downthegardenpathpodcast. You can also email your questions and comments to downthegardenpathpodcast@hotmail.com, or connect with Joanne via her website: down2earth.ca Down the Garden Path Podcast On Down The Garden Path, professional landscape designer Joanne Shaw discusses down-to-earth tips and advice for your plants, gardens and landscapes. As the owner of Down2Earth Landscape Design, Joanne Shaw has been designing beautiful gardens for homeowners east of Toronto for over a decade. She does her best to bring you interesting, relevant and useful topics to help you keep your garden as low maintenance as possible. In Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden, Joanne and fellow landscape designer Matthew Dressing distill their horticultural and design expertise and their combined experiences in helping others create and maintain thriving gardens into one easy-to-read monthly reference guide. Get your copy today on Amazon. Don't forget to check out Down the Garden Path on your favourite podcast app and subscribe! You can now catch the podcast on YouTube and Patreon.

Before Down the Garden Path became a podcast, it was a weekly radio show on RealityRadio101.com! In part one of this "vintage" episode from October 2016, Joanne Shaw discusses landscape design with Jan Johnsen. A highly regarded landscape designer, author and teacher, Jan has a passion for plants and beautiful gardens. In her book, Heaven is a Garden - Designing Serene Outdoor Spaces for Inspiration and Reflection, she draws on ancient traditions and modern trends to reveal the deep connection between the natural world and our emotions. Listen and enjoy! Find Down the Garden Path on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube: @downthegardenpathpodcast. You can also email your questions and comments to downthegardenpathpodcast@hotmail.com, or connect with Joanne via her website: down2earth.ca   Down the Garden Path Podcast On Down The Garden Path, professional landscape designer Joanne Shaw discusses down-to-earth tips and advice for your plants, gardens and landscapes. As the owner of Down2Earth Landscape Design, Joanne Shaw has been designing beautiful gardens for homeowners east of Toronto for over a decade. She does her best to bring you interesting, relevant and useful topics to help you keep your garden as low maintenance as possible.  In Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden, Joanne and fellow landscape designer Matthew Dressing distill their horticultural and design expertise and their combined experiences in helping others create and maintain thriving gardens into one easy-to-read monthly reference guide. Get your copy today on Amazon.  You can now catch the podcast on YouTube and Patreon.

Before Down the Garden Path became a podcast, it was a weekly radio show on RealityRadio101.com! In this "vintage" episode from September 2016, Joanne Shaw discusses hellstrip gardening with author Evelyn Hadden, a national speaker and author of four garden books, including Hellstrip Gardening. What's a Hellstrip? We all contend with that troublesome stretch between the sidewalk and the road, or the space nestled between driveways – commonly referred to as the "hellstrip." It’s easy to neglect and figuring out how to address this area can be challenging. Evelyn explores strategies for revitalizing this space, potentially bringing positive changes to your neighbourhood. Listen and enjoy! Find Down the Garden Path on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube: @downthegardenpathpodcast. You can also email your questions and comments to downthegardenpathpodcast@hotmail.com, or connect with Joanne via her website: down2earth.ca   Down the Garden Path Podcast On Down The Garden Path, professional landscape designer Joanne Shaw discusses down-to-earth tips and advice for your plants, gardens and landscapes. As the owner of Down2Earth Landscape Design, Joanne Shaw has been designing beautiful gardens for homeowners east of Toronto for over a decade. She does her best to bring you interesting, relevant and useful topics to help you keep your garden as low maintenance as possible.  In Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden, Joanne and fellow landscape designer Matthew Dressing distill their horticultural and design expertise and their combined experiences in helping others create and maintain thriving gardens into one easy-to-read monthly reference guide. Get your copy today on Amazon.  You can now catch the podcast on YouTube and Patreon.

Before Down the Garden Path became a podcast, it was a weekly radio show on RealityRadio101.com! In this "vintage" episode from February 2016, Joanne Shaw discusses orchid growing tips and tricks with Bruce Rogers, owner of Bruce Rogers Orchids and author of The Orchid Whisperer. They also discuss tips for beginners, as well as a few of Bruce's favourite tricks. Listen and enjoy! Find Down the Garden Path on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube: @downthegardenpathpodcast. You can also email your questions and comments to downthegardenpathpodcast@hotmail.com, or connect with Joanne via her website: down2earth.ca   Down the Garden Path Podcast On Down The Garden Path, professional landscape designer Joanne Shaw discusses down-to-earth tips and advice for your plants, gardens and landscapes. As the owner of Down2Earth Landscape Design, Joanne Shaw has been designing beautiful gardens for homeowners east of Toronto for over a decade. She does her best to bring you interesting, relevant and useful topics to help you keep your garden as low maintenance as possible.  In Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden, Joanne and fellow landscape designer Matthew Dressing distill their horticultural and design expertise and their combined experiences in helping others create and maintain thriving gardens into one easy-to-read monthly reference guide. Get your copy today on Amazon.  You can now catch the podcast on YouTube and Patreon.

In this episode of Down the Garden Path, Joanne Shaw and Matthew Dressing discuss bushes with berries for the birds that you can add to your landscape. These bushes are different than other fruit bushes like blueberry and raspberry, etc.  They came up with five different ones for you to consider and a few honourable mentions. Five shrubs to attract, feed, and help shelter birds in your yard in the colder months of the year:  Common Snowberry, Symphoricarpos alba Black Chokeberry, Aronia melanocarpa Chokecherry, Prunus virginiana Beautyberry, Callicapra americana American elderberry, Sambucus canadensis Honourable mentions:  Viburnums, Viburnum spp. (Listen to our Viburnum podcast here.) American Bittersweet vine, Celastrus scandens. Eastern Red Cedar, Juniperus virginiana Oregon Grape Holly, Mahonia aquifolium Cotoneaster, Cotoneaster spp. Find Down the Garden Path on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube: @downthegardenpathpodcast. You can also email your questions and comments to downthegardenpathpodcast@hotmail.com, or connect with Joanne and Matthew via their websites: Joanne Shaw: down2earth.ca Matthew Dressing: naturalaffinity.ca Resources mentioned during the show Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden Down the Garden Path Podcast Each week on Down The Garden Path, professional landscape designers Joanne Shaw and Matthew Dressing discuss down-to-earth tips and advice for your plants, gardens and landscapes. As the owner of Down2Earth Landscape Design, Joanne Shaw has been designing beautiful gardens for homeowners east of Toronto for over a decade. A horticulturist and landscape designer, Matthew Dressing owns Natural Affinity Garden Design, a landscape design and garden maintenance firm servicing Toronto and the Eastern GTA. Together, they do their best to bring you interesting, relevant and useful topics to help you keep your garden as low maintenance as possible. In their book, Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden, Joanne and Matthew distill their horticultural and design expertise and their combined experiences in helping others create and maintain thriving gardens into one easy-to-read monthly reference guide. It's now available on Amazon. Don't forget to check out Down the Garden Path on your favourite podcast app and subscribe to be notified of new content. You can now catch the podcast on YouTube and Patreon.

In this episode of Down the Garden Path, Joanne Shaw and Matthew Dressing discuss the three types of holly and their popularity as a replacement for boxwoods. Here are some of the topics covered in this episode: Two notable holly species to add for winter interest in your garden. Ilex aquifolium, Common or Christmas Holly: evergreen with slightly sharp leaves and red berries on the female plants Ilex verticillata, Winterberry: North American native, deciduous holly Honourable mention: Ilex glabra, Inkberry: An evergreen native to the Eastern US and Canada but not in Ontario. Compact with shiny leaves it could be a Boxwood replacement in areas where it is hardy. Resources mentioned during the show Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden Down the Garden Path Podcast Each week on Down The Garden Path, professional landscape designers Joanne Shaw and Matthew Dressing discuss down-to-earth tips and advice for your plants, gardens and landscapes. As the owner of Down2Earth Landscape Design, Joanne Shaw has been designing beautiful gardens for homeowners east of Toronto for over a decade. A horticulturist and landscape designer, Matthew Dressing owns Natural Affinity Garden Design, a landscape design and garden maintenance firm servicing Toronto and the Eastern GTA. Together, they do their best to bring you interesting, relevant and useful topics to help you keep your garden as low maintenance as possible. In their book, Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden, Joanne and Matthew distill their horticultural and design expertise and their combined experiences in helping others create and maintain thriving gardens into one easy-to-read monthly reference guide. It's now available on Amazon. Don't forget to check out Down the Garden Path on your favourite podcast app and subscribe to be notified of new content. You can now catch the podcast on YouTube and Patreon.

Just when we think we have seen it all regarding our garden and pest issues, we learn about another pest we need to educate ourselves about. This week on Down the Garden Path, Joanne welcomes Sean James to discuss jumping worms, what they are and why we need to be on the lookout for them in our gardens. Sean James, owner of Sean James Consulting & Design, has been gardening professionally since age sixteen. He is a graduate of the prestigious Niagara Parks School of Horticulture, a Master Gardener and was named one of “20 Canadians Making a Difference” in the Canada-wide magazine GardenMaking. Here are some of the topics covered in this episode: What are jumping worms? What do they look like?  Where do we look for them?  Why are they important? How will they affect our gardens? What about growers and how we buy our plants? What can we do? **Clarification: Eggs and cocoons are the same thing: Each new generation begins with the production of hardened egg capsules, known as cocoons, that overwinter in the soil to hatch the following spring.** Where you can find Sean James: Website: seanjames-consulting.ca  Instagram: SeanJamesDesigns  Facebook: @Sean.James.12 Linkedin: Sean James Find Down the Garden Path on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube: @downthegardenpathpodcast. You can also email your questions and comments to downthegardenpathpodcast@hotmail.com, or connect with Joanne and Matthew via their websites: Joanne Shaw: down2earth.ca Matthew Dressing: naturalaffinity.ca Resources mentioned during the show Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden Down the Garden Path Podcast Each week on Down The Garden Path, professional landscape designers Joanne Shaw and Matthew Dressing discuss down-to-earth tips and advice for your plants, gardens and landscapes. As the owner of Down2Earth Landscape Design, Joanne Shaw has been designing beautiful gardens for homeowners east of Toronto for over a decade. A horticulturist and landscape designer, Matthew Dressing owns Natural Affinity Garden Design, a landscape design and garden maintenance firm servicing Toronto and the Eastern GTA. Together, they do their best to bring you interesting, relevant and useful topics to help you keep your garden as low maintenance as possible. In their book, Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden, Joanne and Matthew distill their horticultural and design expertise and their combined experiences in helping others create and maintain thriving gardens into one easy-to-read monthly reference guide. It's now available on Amazon. Don't forget to check out Down the Garden Path on your favourite podcast app and subscribe to be notified of new content. You can now catch the podcast on YouTube and Patreon.

In this episode of Down the Garden Path, Joanne Shaw and Matthew Dressing discuss the rarely talked about spring ephemerals, what they are, their importance, and how you can use them in your garden. Here are some of the topics covered in this episode: What are spring ephemerals? Why are they important? How can you use them in your garden? Where can you find them? Find Down the Garden Path on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube: @downthegardenpathpodcast. You can also email your questions and comments to downthegardenpathpodcast@hotmail.com, or connect with Joanne and Matthew via their websites: Joanne Shaw: down2earth.ca Matthew Dressing: naturalaffinity.ca Resources mentioned during the show Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden Down the Garden Path Podcast Each week on Down The Garden Path, professional landscape designers Joanne Shaw and Matthew Dressing discuss down-to-earth tips and advice for your plants, gardens and landscapes. As the owner of Down2Earth Landscape Design, Joanne Shaw has been designing beautiful gardens for homeowners east of Toronto for over a decade. A horticulturist and landscape designer, Matthew Dressing owns Natural Affinity Garden Design, a landscape design and garden maintenance firm servicing Toronto and the Eastern GTA. Together, they do their best to bring you interesting, relevant and useful topics to help you keep your garden as low maintenance as possible. In their book, Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden, Joanne and Matthew distill their horticultural and design expertise and their combined experiences in helping others create and maintain thriving gardens into one easy-to-read monthly reference guide. It's now available on Amazon. Don't forget to check out Down the Garden Path on your favourite podcast app and subscribe to be notified of new content. You can now catch the podcast on YouTube and Patreon.

In this episode of Down the Garden Path, Joanne Shaw and Matthew Dressing welcome back author Susan Poizner, this time to discuss her new book Grow Fruit Trees Fast: A Beginner's Guide. Susan is an urban orchardist, the creator of the fruit tree care training website OrchardPeople.com, and the author of the fruit tree care book Growing Urban Orchards. She has trained thousands of new growers worldwide in her in-person workshops and online courses. Susan is an ISA Certified Arborist and an instructor of Fruit Production at Niagara College in Ontario, Canada. Here are some of the topics covered in this episode: What is a bare root tree? Why are they better than potted fruit trees? Bare root care: How do we plant them?  Should we add any amendments?  When and how should we prune our fruit trees? What’s the best way to feed our fruit trees? Where you can find Susan Poizner: Website: orchardpeople.com  Podcast: Urban Forestry Radio  Facebook: @orchardpeople  YouTube: @orchardpeople  Find Down the Garden Path on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube: @downthegardenpathpodcast. You can also email your questions and comments to downthegardenpathpodcast@hotmail.com, or connect with Joanne and Matthew via their websites: Joanne Shaw: down2earth.ca Matthew Dressing: naturalaffinity.ca Resources mentioned during the show Grow Fruit Trees Fast: A Beginner's Guide Growing Urban Orchards Down the Garden Path Podcast: Growing Exotic Apples with Susan Poizner Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden Down the Garden Path Podcast Each week on Down The Garden Path, professional landscape designers Joanne Shaw and Matthew Dressing discuss down-to-earth tips and advice for your plants, gardens and landscapes. As the owner of Down2Earth Landscape Design, Joanne Shaw has been designing beautiful gardens for homeowners east of Toronto for over a decade. A horticulturist and landscape designer, Matthew Dressing owns Natural Affinity Garden Design, a landscape design and garden maintenance firm servicing Toronto and the Eastern GTA. Together, they do their best to bring you interesting, relevant and useful topics to help you keep your garden as low maintenance as possible. In their book, Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden, Joanne and Matthew distill their horticultural and design expertise and their combined experiences in helping others create and maintain thriving gardens into one easy-to-read monthly reference guide. It's now available on Amazon. Don't forget to check out Down the Garden Path on your favourite podcast app and subscribe to be notified of new content. You can now catch the podcast on YouTube and Patreon.

In this episode of Down the Garden Path, Joanne Shaw and Matthew Dressing provide some tips and tricks and do’s and don'ts for your November garden. Here are some of the topics covered in this episode: Planting bulbs Cleaning up your vegetable garden in time for winter Why you should not cut back your perennials Check out our Five Fall Lawn Care Tips for November lawn care. How to protect your trees, shrubs, and evergreens from animals and winter Find Down the Garden Path on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube: @downthegardenpathpodcast.   You can also email your questions and comments to downthegardenpathpodcast@hotmail.com, or connect with Joanne and Matthew via their websites:   Joanne Shaw: down2earth.ca  Matthew Dressing: naturalaffinity.ca Resources mentioned during the show Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden Down the Garden Path: Five Fall Lawn Care Tips Down the Garden Path Podcast Each week on Down The Garden Path, professional landscape designers Joanne Shaw and Matthew Dressing discuss down-to-earth tips and advice for your plants, gardens and landscapes. As the owner of Down2Earth Landscape Design, Joanne Shaw has been designing beautiful gardens for homeowners east of Toronto for over a decade. A horticulturist and landscape designer, Matthew Dressing owns Natural Affinity Garden Design, a landscape design and garden maintenance firm servicing Toronto and the Eastern GTA. Together, they do their best to bring you interesting, relevant and useful topics to help you keep your garden as low maintenance as possible. In their book, Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden, Joanne and Matthew distill their horticultural and design expertise and their combined experiences in helping others create and maintain thriving gardens into one easy-to-read monthly reference guide. It's now available on Amazon. Don't forget to check out Down the Garden Path on your favourite podcast app and subscribe to be notified of new content. You can now catch the podcast on YouTube and Patreon.