Down The Garden Path Podcast

This week, landscape designers Joanne Shaw and Matthew Dressing welcome Aaron Deacon from BIOS Nutrients to the Down the Garden Path podcast to talk about how feeding your indoor plants naturally improves their soil health. About Aaron Deacon Aaron first learned about the environmental damage caused by synthetic fertilizers and pesticides during college and set out after graduation to begin growin...

This week, Matthew Dressing and Joanne Shaw welcome amateur butterfly enthusiast Lisa-Rae Cormack to the Down the Garden Path podcast to talk about harvesting milkweed and how to grow it from seed. About Lisa-Rae Cormack An HR professional from Whitby, Ontario, Lisa-Rae began raising monarch butterflies when she became an empty nester five years ago. To date, she has raised and released close to 4...

Do you have some annuals that are still going strong? In this episode of Down the Garden Path podcast , landscape designers Joanne Shaw and Matthew Dressing discuss how some annuals can be saved and brought inside for you to use in your gardens next spring. Tune in to hear Joanne and Matthew discuss ways you can save your annuals. Here are some of the questions and topics covered in this episode:...

This week on the Down the Garden Path podcast , landscape designers Matthew Dressing and Joanne Shaw are joined by Bob Osborne, author of Hardy Apples: Growing Apples in Cold Climates , to talk about how to select, grow, and care for our apple trees in cold climates. For over a decade, the gardening world has seen the continuous rise in popularity of growing your own food and food security. One of...

How's your lawn faring after these past few months of hot dry weather? As summer winds to a close, landscape designers Joanne Shaw and Matthew Dressing discuss lawn care and lawn care alternatives. Tune in to hear Joanne and Matthew discuss lawn care and lawn alternatives. Here are some of the questions and topics covered in this episode: What should we be doing for our lawns in September? How do...

This week on the Down the Garden Path podcast , landscape designers Joanne Shaw and Matthew Dressing close off the month of August by answering listener questions about the seasonal stressors we're experiencing in our gardens. Tune in to hear Joanne and Matthew discuss seasonal stressors in your August garden. Here are some of the questions and topics covered in this episode: Is it one or two inch...

In this episode of the Down the Garden Path podcast, landscape designers Joanne Shaw and Matthew Dressing answer questions about their new book, Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden , on The Food Garden Life Show, a podcast hosted by Emma Biggs and Steven Biggs. Tune in to hear Joanne and Matt answer questions about their book on The Food Garden Life Show. Steven and E...

This week on the Down the Garden Path podcast , landscape designers Matthew Dressing and Joanne Shaw are joined by Mary Phillips, Head of Garden for Wildlife™ at the National Wildlife Federation. Mary discusses the Federation's wonderful initiatives and shares how we can play a part in growing a bright future for the monarch butterfly and many other iconic native wildlife species. About Mary Phill...

This week, Matt and Joanne present an encore presentation of their August in the Garden podcast from 2019. Tune in to hear Joanne and Matthew discuss the do's and don'ts for your August garden. August can be a challenging month in the garden. The heat is unrelenting and the weeds are growing strong. It's right around now that our plants can start to look a little tired or spent, and as gardeners,...

This week on the Down the Garden Path podcast, landscape designers Joanne Shaw and Matthew Dressing answer listener questions in this "Ask Us Anything!" episode. Tune in to hear Joanne and Matt respond to listener questions. Some of the questions listeners asked: I saw a post online: 8 plants that repel mosquitos. Any information that you can share with us? With this excessive heat in the GTA, is...

This week on the Down the Garden Path podcast , landscape designers Matthew Dressing and Joanne Shaw talk about native plants with Anna Fialkoff, the Ecological Programs Manager at Wild Seed Project in Portland, Maine. Join Joanne and Matt as they discuss native plants with Anna Fialkoff of Wild Seed Project. Here are some of the questions and topics covered in this episode: What does the Wild See...

This month on the Down the Garden Path podcast , landscape designers Matthew Dressing and Joanne Shaw discuss the wide assortment of shrubs available for your gardens and landscapes. With so many wonderful new and tried-and-true shrubs on the market, they believe there are a few that deserve more attention. So, in this episode, they share some of the hidden gems you can find at your local independ...

With summer well underway and many of us heading off to the cottage or to spend some time out in nature, Joanne and Matt help you identify some of the harmful plants you might find during your travels. In this episode of the Down the Garden Path podcast , they discuss poisonous plants. Join Joanne and Matt as they discuss poisonous plants . What are the common harmful plants when camping and hikin...

This month on the Down the Garden Path podcast , landscape designers Joanne Shaw and Matthew Dressing are talking about all the wonderful shrubs for your gardens and landscapes. In this episode, they discuss interesting evergreen shrubs.  Join Joanne and Matt as they discuss interesting evergreen shrubs . What makes an evergreen interesting? What is an evergreen? Best practices when caring for you...

This week on the Down the Garden Path podcast , landscape designers Joanne Shaw and Matthew Dressing wrap up their look at perennials with an episode dedicated to some of their favourites. These hidden gems of the perennial garden work hard but are often overlooked. Join Joanne and Matt as they reveal their top five perennial favourites . Joanne's hidden gems: Geum : Geum Triflorum Zone 4 Part to...

This week on the Down the Garden Path podcast , landscape designers Joanne Shaw and Matthew Dressing look at two classic perennials that have long been staples in our gardens, phlox and campanula, commonly known as bellflowers. Whether you're looking for a plant with some height, or one a little lower growing, these classics have got you covered. Join Joanne and Matt as they look at perennial favo...

This month on the Down the Garden Path podcast, landscape designers Joanne Shaw and Matthew Dressing discuss some of their favourite perennials. They begin with a look at a versatile classic, sedums. From shrub substitute to colourful ground cover, it's hard not to have a spot in your garden for a spectacular sedum. Joanne and Matt kick off the month with a look at sedums, a perennial favourite ....

In this episode of the Down the Garden Path podcast, landscape designers Joanne Shaw and Matthew Dressing kick off the month with a launch party to celebrate their ne w book, Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden .   Joanne and Matthew's new book, Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden , is now available on Amazon. In Down the Garden Path: A S...

This week on the Down the Garden Path podcast, landscape designers Joanne Shaw and Matthew Dressing wrap up May's focus on wonderful landscape shrubs with an "Ask Us Anything!" episode -- and an exciting announcement! Tune in to hear Joanne and Matt respond to listener questions. Some of the questions listeners asked: Is full sun considered to be 6 or 8 hours? What is the best way to naturally get...

This week, we present an encore presentation of our May in the Garden podcast from 2019. Tune in to hear Joanne and Matthew discuss the do's and don'ts for your May garden. May in the garden brings many inspiring ideas, but there are many not-so-inspiring May to-do's you will also need to get done to give your garden its best chance in the season ahead.  Joanne and Matthew discuss garden trends wh...

This week on the Down the Garden Path podcast, landscape designers Joanne Shaw and Matthew Dressing continue their look at flowering shrubs and explore the world of Deutzias and Diervillas, some gorgeous small to medium-sized shrubs with a lot to offer your landscape. Tune in to hear Joanne and Matt talk about Deutzias and D iervillas. Some of the questions and topics covered: What are Deutzias? W...

This week on the Down the Garden Path podcast, landscape designers Joanne Shaw and Matthew Dressing continue their look at flowering shrubs, discussing a few classics and a couple of superstars you might be meeting for the first time. In this week's episode, they talk about viburnums. Tune in to hear Joanne and Matt talk about viburnums. Some of the questions and topics covered: What are viburnums...

This month on the Down the Garden Path podcast, landscape designers Joanne Shaw and Matthew Dressing take a look at flowering shrubs, a few classics and a couple of superstars you might be meeting for the first time. In this week's episode, they talk about lilacs. Tune in to hear Joanne and Matt talk about lilacs. Some of the questions and topics covered: What are lilacs? What are the different gr...

This month on Down the Garden Path podcast , landscape designer Joanne Shaw wraps up "critter month" with the ultimate critter we would all love to have: chickens. Joanne welcomes Homestead Phil, the co-founder of Rent the Chicken. About Rent the Chicken  Homestead Jenn and Phil are the co-founders of Rent the Chicken. It started as a way to earn supplemental income and is now full-time employment...

This month on Down the Garden Path podcast , landscape designers Joanne Shaw and Matthew Dressing continue their "critter month" with a look into the soil and its diverse life. In this episode, they welcome Root Rescue's Bob Reeves to talk about how you can put little critters to use in your garden. About Bob Reeves  Bob has come to believe that the secret to plant success is hiding in the soil be...