Episodes

  • November in the Garden

    November in the Garden
    Oct 29 2024

    In this encore presentation 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 their Five Fall Lawn Care Tips for November lawn care
    • How to protect your trees, shrubs, and evergreens from animals and winter
    Have a topic you'd like Joanne to discuss?

    Email your questions and comments to downthegardenpathpodcast@hotmail.com, or connect with her here: down2earth.ca

    You can find Down the Garden Path on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube: @downthegardenpathpodcast.

    You can find Matthew Dressing at 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

    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.
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    41 mins
  • How to Build a Layered Bulb Planter

    How to Build a Layered Bulb Planter
    Oct 21 2024
    Fed up with critters stealing your bulbs or waiting for the foliage to die back after your bulbs finish flowering? In this episode of Down the Garden Path podcast, Joanne Shaw explains why creating a layered bulb planter may be the solution you’re looking for. How to build a layered bulb planter: Choose the container carefully. Size and drainage are important.You can choose a plastic one that you will then use as a liner inside a “prettier” pot, or you can plant it right into a decorative pot -- just make sure you can move it to the garage now and back out into the garden in the spring. Choose at least 3 types and or sizes of bulbs. Be sure to consider the bloom times.Do you want them to stagger out a few weeks to bloom, or do you want them to bloom at approximately the same time?This is not an exact science so there are no guarantees that bulbs will bloom when you want them to. Make sure the bottom layer of bulbs is tall enough to grow out of the pot. Start by adding at least 1 to 2 inches of potting soil at the bottom of the pot.You can sprinkle a bit of bulb fertilizer if you would like.Insert the bulbs approximately a couple of inches apart, close enough for the bulbs to support each other.Top with another 2 inches of potting soil and a handful of fertilizer, then add the second layer of bulbs. Repeat for the subsequent layers.Water the container thoroughly after planting: you should see that a bit of water has come out of the drainage hole.These pots can then be stored in an unheated garage, shed or sheltered area between garages for instance. Do not store in direct sunlight. The goal is to avoid the freeze and thaw that inevitably occurs in our winters. Throughout the winter, water the plants thoroughly but intermittently. Think about doing it when it rains or snows outside.You don’t want the soil too wet or the bulbs may rot.If there’s snow, you could even top them off with a shovel of it to keep them watered and cool. In the spring, take them out of storage and place them around the yard.You can also do this on a smaller scale to have some small bulb planters in the house for spring or maybe even an Easter centrepiece or gift.These would make great Christmas gifts for other gardeners or people in an apartment or condo. Resources Mentioned in the Show: Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden Have a topic you'd like me to discuss? Please let me know what other topics you would like me to discuss. Email your questions and comments to downthegardenpathpodcast@hotmail.com, or connect with me on my website: down2earth.ca Find Down the Garden Path on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube: @downthegardenpathpodcast. 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.
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    20 mins
  • Lasagna No-Till Gardening

    Lasagna No-Till Gardening
    Oct 15 2024
    This week on Down the Garden Path, Joanne Shaw explores the benefits and steps to creating a no-till lasagna garden. What is lasagna no-till gardening? Often called "lasagna" gardening because of the layering involved or no-till gardening because there is no need to dig up and disturb the existing organic matter. Reasons to consider a lasagna no-till garden: You want to create a new or expanded garden area in your yardYou’re considering planting a vegetable or herb garden next year When’s the best time? October/ November is the best time to do it and in the least back-breaking and simplest way. Joanne’s experience: Joanne did this with her garden in October 2016.Check out the Lasagna Gardening section of Joanne’s book, Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden. You’ll find pictures of Joanne’s garden in 2016 and how she tackled creating a new garden area that she planted in the following June of 2017. Or listen to her talk about it on a previous show.Here are some of the basics and her recommendations eight years later. Joanne lives on a corner lot with no sidewalks: her garden is in the front yard, to the right of the front door from the walkway to the curb and wraps around the corner and ends at the driveway.In 2016, she had a garden in the centre of that space surrounded by approximately 3-4 feet of grass (it was actually barren, dry soil that was hard to water because of the slight slope).It received A LOT of sun. She didn’t have time to baby a garden and wasn’t going to baby her lawn.She liked the idea of having more garden and less lawn and was looking for a simple way to make this happen.Her research led her to lasagna gardening where you cover your lawn with layers of material to not only kill your lawn but create a “new” garden or new improved garden area to plant in the following spring.Starting a new garden by digging up an existing lawn or maybe an old one that you inherited that needs some major refreshing seems straightforward. But not only is it hard work, it is often hard for most people to dispose of the old sod, or poor garden material. The steps: That is the beauty of this method. It starts with cardboard! Lots of cardboard, more than you think you will need because you want to make sure the boxes overlap.Make sure you remove the packing tape and don’t use any coated cardboard that may be found at the grocery store/or restaurants.Cover the cardboard with a quality organic material like manure or mushroom compost, at least to 2-3 inches, making sure the cardboard is completely covered.Cover everything once again with an organic mulch, again 2 to 3 inches. Don’t worry if this seems high, as everything starts to break down it will “thin” out. Joanne’s favourite: composted pine mulch (no dyed mulches please).This is the perfect time of year to do this and as the fall rain and winter snow (hopefully) cover the new garden, it will help everything to break down, especially the cardboard.Once May or June arrives, you should be able to start planting. It is as easy as that!This is great for areas large or small, but also ideal for challenging boulevards, where the grass doesn’t grow well or you’re tired of cutting it. Resources Mentioned in the Show: Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden Lasagna Gardening Have a topic you'd like Joanne to discuss? Email your questions and comments to downthegardenpathpodcast@hotmail.com, or connect with me on my website: down2earth.ca Find Down the Garden Path on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube: @downthegardenpathpodcast. 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.
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    25 mins
  • October in the Garden

    October in the Garden
    Oct 1 2024
    In October in the Garden, Joanne Shaw reviews some of the tasks you can do this month but insists it's not as labour-intensive as you may think! Tasks you can do this month: Vegetable Gardens Clean up and remove the old stems of your tomato or pepper plants that have stopped producing.Sow cool weather plants like lettuce and some spinach: they grow better in the shoulder seasons, late spring /early summer or fall.Buy plants at a garden centre or start seeds and sow them right into the garden.Top up the vegetable garden with some compost or manure to get ahead of next year.Take pictures so you know where plants are because next year you may need to put things in different places.Plant a cover crop. Containers If you want to take advantage of the nice weather at the beginning of October, take your vegetable out of its container and pop in an aster. Annuals and Perennials Annuals: With no frost anytime soon, annuals are probably still doing okay. They may be a little bit leggy or sad-looking. Perk them up with water and fertilizer.Perennials: No need to cut them back. You can do some deadheading if things are really looking brown and not necessarily attractive. Deciduous Trees and Shrubs Trees: It is important to water deciduous trees, especially young ones, certainly ones that you just planted this year.Water them deeply every week. Evergreen shrubs: Enjoy the fall colour and shape of your shrubs. Cutting them back now is not necessary.Keep newly planted shrubs well-watered. They need some extra time to get established. Being in a drought situation as they go into dormancy in winter is never a good thing. Seeds and Bulbs It’s a good time to buy and plant your garlic.Spring bulbs: find and buy bulbs – just don’t plant them until the end of October, or the beginning of November!I recommend not planting tulips but instead looking at the interesting varieties of daffodils or alliumsDaffodils and alliums are poisonous to squirrels and other rodents, so they will leave them alone. Lawn Care Time to apply fall fertilizer.Pay attention to the weeds, especially crabgrass which is prolific this time of yearApply corn gluten to act as a preemergent, preventing the weed seeds from germinating. It’s best to apply during spring and fall. Resources Mentioned in the Show: Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden Have a topic you'd like me to discuss? Please let me know what other topics you would like me to discuss. Email your questions and comments to downthegardenpathpodcast@hotmail.com, or connect with me on my website: down2earth.ca Find Down the Garden Path on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube: @downthegardenpathpodcast. 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.
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    29 mins
  • Adding Asters to Your Garden

    Adding Asters to Your Garden
    Sep 23 2024
    In this episode of Down the Garden Path, Joanne Shaw discusses how to extend the blooming season in your garden by adding asters. Topics covered in this week's episode: Gardens don't have to stop blooming in September. We can extend the season to October and November.It’s very important to have because the pollinators still need something blooming.There are over 30 different species of asters.They have a huge variety of growing conditions, so there is an aster for whatever challenging growing condition you have. Here are the five asters discussed: New England Aster, Symphyotrichum nova-angliae The showiest, and likely the one you’re most familiar withNative to most U.S. states and provincesIt is large and very showy, with a bright cozy blue flower with a yellow centreThe leaves on the stem are densely arranged on the stemPrefer soil moist and they can grow in part shadeOne of the larger varieties: up to six feet tall Whitewood Aster Eurybia divaricata Delicate looking flowersGrows in dry shade which means it makes a wonderful addition to the shade gardenNot super showy like most shade plantsFound in Ontario in dry, deciduous forestsSo that's exactly what we want in our garden. If you have maple trees, pine trees, or something like that where the soil underneath is very dry and it's very shady, then this is something worth giving a try toOnly gets two to three feet tall Smooth Aster Symphyotrichum laeve Similar to the New England Aster, although hence its name, it has leaves that are very smooth lavender and blueHas a daisy-type flower with a yellow centreBlooms from August to OctoberA huge pollinator for butterflies and a larvae host for the pearl crescent butterfly Heart leaf Aster Symphyotrichum cordifolium Lavender to light blueIt is one of the latest ones to bloom and actually goes into NovemberAn excellent pollinator for butterflies and bees at late in the seasonSpreads slowly by rhizomes and it lightly self-seedsTwo to three feet tall, sandy to loam soil, and part shade to full shade Panicled Aster Symphyotrichum lanceolatum This one blooms with sprays of white flowers, open spreading form, so also known as floppyBest grown with other plants to kind of support itIf you already have a native garden, or if you're planting a native garden with other large tall plants, then this could be an addition if you want thatPrefers moist soil, but it likes full sun You can purchase seeds from Wildflower Farm and you can again, sprinkle them or plant them in your garden this fallYou can also start them like you normally would do if you wanted them to grow in February/March under lights and go through that type of thing indoors and then put them out next year Resources Mentioned in the Show: Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden Fall Mums and Asters Have a topic you'd like me to discuss? Please let me know what other topics you would like me to discuss. Email your questions and comments to downthegardenpathpodcast@hotmail.com, or connect with me on my website: down2earth.ca Find Down the Garden Path on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube: @downthegardenpathpodcast. 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.
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    18 mins
  • Eco-Lawn & Native Plant Mixes with Miriam Goldberger from Wildflower Farm

    Eco-Lawn & Native Plant Mixes with Miriam Goldberger from Wildflower Farm
    Sep 16 2024
    This week on Down the Garden Path, Joanne Shaw speaks with Wildflower Farm's Miriam Goldberger about Eco-Lawn, the answer to a truly low-maintenance lawn, as well as some of her favourite native plants you can include in your garden. About Miriam Goldberger Miriam Goldberger is the founder and co-owner of Wildflower Farm, a wildflower seed production company in Ontario — a magical 100 acres where the flower gardens and meadows thrive without pesticides and are a pollinators' paradise. To learn more about Miriam’s journey, visit the Wildflower Farm website. Here are some of the topics covered in this episode: Miriam’s book, Taming Wildflowers, was published over 10 years ago. Joanne noted how Miriam has become a pioneer in the industry of native plants and wildflowers.The book contains helpful information about how to grow native plants in specific locations and is available on the Wildflower Farm website. Miriam recommends three of her favourite “polite” wildflowers: Black-eyed Susan, a stable perennial for late-summer/early-fallGaillardia or blanket flower, a vivid and bright yellow/orange/red colour that will stay in bloomPrairie drop seed, a clump-forming, non-aggressive grass that looks beautiful from late spring right through into the fall. Miriam also discussed Eco-Lawn: Our customers had urged us to develop a lawn that was just as sustainable, drought tolerant and low maintenance as our wildflower gardens and meadows.While walking in the forests of Ontario, we spotted clumps of rich green grass growing in the deep shade of the northern woods. Could these emerald patches be used as natural grass pathways around and through our wildflower meadows?After three years of research and trials later, Eco-Lawn was born.Since its introduction in 1998, it has changed the face of lawnscaping across North America for homeowners, businesses and municipalities.Eco-Lawn combines several native fescues that grow together to create a matte or lawn.The roots are deeper than our Kentucky Bluegrass which makes it much more drought tolerant and can grow under a variety of light conditions.You can start a new lawn with the seed or slowly convert an existing lawn into a low maintenance Eco- lawn.The fall is the best time to start Eco-lawn! Full instructions on how to prepare for applying Eco-lawn are available on their website. You can find Wildflower Farm at www.wildflowerfarm.com. 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.
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    50 mins
  • Fall Mums and Asters

    Fall Mums and Asters
    Sep 9 2024
    In this episode of Down the Garden Path, Joanne Shaw discusses fall mums and asters. Topics covered in this week's episode: Chrysanthemums, many horticultural varieties and cultivars exist including tender florist mums (a favourite because of how long they stay blooming in a vase).Or Garden mums, more commonly known as fall mums.All Chrysanthemums are native to East Asia and northeastern Europe. They became popular in North American gardening during the early to mid-20th century.Overall, fall or autumn gardening in the U.S. became particularly prominent in the 1950s and 1960s. Their popularity grew thanks to their vibrant colours of mums—ranging from deep reds and oranges to yellows and purples—this made them a popular choice for fall displays.Their ability to bloom late into the season and withstand cooler temperatures also contributed to their popularity in autumn gardening.Fall mums grown for our gardens are fertilized and pruned heavily to maintain their dense growth while in containers.It is possible to overwinter them in the garden but without regular maintenance, they can get quite large (tall and wide over a season or two).You often hear of gardeners or articles mentioning mid-summer to cut back or pinch back the foliage on garden mums that are being grown in the garden to slow down their growth and size.If growing in the garden, they benefit from mulching to protect them from the freeze and thaw most of us experience in our Ontario gardens or gardens in zones 4-6.They can be prone to spider mites and aphids as well as powdery mildew. Mildew especially if they are allowed to get large in the garden and then crowd with other plants and especially when there is high humidity and/or overhead watering.The downside of mums: As a designer, my goal is to create gardens that are all season with something happening at all times and for there really not be a need for high-maintenance annuals. I do realize that there are times and places in the yard where one might want a pop of colour -- even me!Potted mums perform much better in cooler temperatures. Unfortunately, garden centres seem to start selling them earlier and earlier each season.They are thirsty plants when in pots, especially in the heat.If the pots aren’t watered regularly they die very quickly and I think homeowners think they can revive them.Once they have dried out, they are a throwaway plant. Don’t get me started on the plastic waste they generate! A better plant option for fall: asters! There are 32 different species of aster in Ontario and over 100 species in North America.There is a place for one in every garden or even a pot if you choose!While some pollinators might visit garden mums for pollen that is where the benefit ends.Asters not only supply pollen for honeybees and native bees, they also feed adult butterflies and we all want more of those in our gardens.They are host plants or over 100 species of caterpillars, nature's bird feeders. Where there are caterpillars, there will be birds!You may be lucky to find New England asters in pots at your big box store.They are transplantable and will overwinter in the garden. In addition to the New England asters, there are several other native varieties that are sold in the perennial section of your garden centres.There is a variety of aster for every garden. New England Asters Symphyotrichum novaeangliae: (purple, light purple) Full to part sun, blooms August to October, moist average soil.Swamp Aster Symphyotrichum puniceum: (purple, light purple) Full to part sun, August to October, wet garden areaWhite Wood Eurybia divaricate: Part shade to full shade, September to October and will grow in a garden from moist to dry.Heart Leaf Aster Symphyotrichum cordifolium: (lavender to light blue) Part shade to full shade, September to October, medium to dry soil Note: It is also recommended to pinch back or cut back asters in June to prevent them from getting too big and floppy. Resources Mentioned in the Show: Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden Have a topic you'd like me to discuss? Please let me know what other topics you would like me to discuss. Email your questions and comments to downthegardenpathpodcast@hotmail.com, or connect with me on my website: down2earth.ca Find Down the Garden Path on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube: @downthegardenpathpodcast. 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 ...
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    15 mins
  • How IssueID Revolutionizes Landscape Management with Jason Hoke

    How IssueID Revolutionizes Landscape Management with Jason Hoke
    Sep 3 2024
    This week on Down the Garden Path, Joanne Shaw welcomes Jason Hoke to the podcast to discuss IssueID, the revolutionary software solution he co-founded that addresses the challenges in the landscape industry. About Jason Hoke Denver native Jason Hoke is an innovative entrepreneur with a diverse career spanning music, landscaping, and technology. At 15, Jason started at A Cut Above Landscape and purchased the company in 2016, growing it to a team of over 30. In 2022, he co-founded IssueID, a revolutionary software solution that simplifies the management of extras and enhancements, helping contractors boost revenue while reducing costs. Here are some of the topics covered in this episode: Jason's early start to the landscape industry, what made him stay and buy the company.What Jason loves about landscaping.The services available at A Cut Above LandscapeHow Jason's music experience ties in. What parallels can be drawn between the music and trades industry? Jason's journey to creating IssueID.How IssueID helps capture, collaborate and close more projects. Where to find IssuedID: www.issueid.ioFacebookYouTubeInstagramLinkedIn 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.
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    1 hr and 1 min