Down The Garden Path Podcast

Thinking about starting a landscape project? In this popular episode from last summer, Joanne shares practical advice from her years as a landscape designer, including how to plan with confidence, choose the right materials, and work with professionals to avoid costly mistakes.
Some of the topics covered in this week's episode:
Observe what works in real life
Look at nearby homes to see what materials, colours, layouts, and garden styles you like before starting your project. This is often more practical than relying only on online inspiration because local examples show what is actually available and realistic.
Do your homework before choosing a landscaper
Ask for referrals, review past work, and check websites or social media before choosing a landscaper.
Use design and planning to avoid expensive mistakes
Use a design, sketch, or simple plan to avoid mistakes with layout, sizing, materials, maintenance, and future upgrades. Planning helps create a project that looks good, functions well, and avoids costly fixes later.
Have a topic you'd like Joanne to discuss?
Email your questions and comments to [email protected], or connect with Joanne on her 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.

In this popular episode from last spring, Joanne speaks with author and fruit tree care educator Susan Poizner about her book, Fruit Tree Pruning: The Science and Art of Cultivating Healthy Fruit Trees, and shares Susan's practical advice for growing healthier, more productive fruit trees.
About Susan Poizner
Susan Poizner is an award-winning author, journalist, urban orchardist, and fruit tree care educator based in Toronto, Canada. She trains arborists, master gardeners, and community and home orchardists in fruit tree maintenance through in-person workshops, online courses, and webinars. Her books include Grow Fruit Trees Fast, Growing Urban Orchards, Fruit Tree Grafting for Everyone and Fruit Tree Pruning.
Here are some of the topics discussed in this episode:
Fruit Trees Are a Long-Term Relationship, Not an Impulse Purchase
Fruit trees require planning, patience, and ongoing care. Instead of grabbing a pretty tree from a garden centre, research disease-resistant varieties, pollination needs, rootstock size, hardiness zone, and the right nursery source before planting. 
Proper Pruning Is Essential for Healthy Trees and Better Fruit
Susan explains why young bare-root trees should be pruned the day they're planted, how formative pruning shapes a tree for life, and why mature trees can often be restored with thoughtful pruning. Learn the difference between trimming and pruning, especially how over-trimming can create dense, unhealthy canopies. 
Healthy Soil, Smart Placement, and Natural Care Lead to Better Harvests
To thrive, fruit trees need full sun, enough root space, compost or quality mulch, annual cleanup, dormant spray, and attention to soil health. Good care reduces disease pressure, improves fruit quality, and makes fruit trees more productive without relying heavily on chemical sprays.
Find Susan Poizner online at orchardpeople.com and Fruit Tree Pruning: The Science and Art of Cultivating Healthy Fruit Trees on Amazon. You can also check out her YouTube channel or listen to the Orchard People podcast.
Have a topic you'd like Joanne to discuss?
Email your questions and comments to [email protected], or connect with Joanne on her 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.

This week on Down the Garden Path, Joanne explains why mulch matters in the garden, how to choose the right kind, and why proper mulching can make a big difference for your soil, plants, and trees.
Mulch is Practical, Not Decorative
Mulch should support the garden, not steal the show. Its real purpose is to help control weeds, keep soil cooler, retain moisture, and gradually break down to add nutrients back into the garden.
Quality Matters When Choosing Mulch
Natural mulch is a better choice than dyed bagged mulch. Dyed mulch can fade, stain, blow around, and may be made from lower-quality wood waste. Consider more natural options like composted pine, shredded bark, hemlock, wood chips, or even compost for smaller gardens. 
Mulching Trees and Using Alternatives Wisely 
Use the "3-3-3 method" for mulching around trees: three inches deep, three feet wide, and a three-inch gap away from the trunk. Avoid creating mulch volcanoes and consider alternatives like shredded leaves and living "green mulch" groundcovers, including creeping thyme, sedums, sweet woodruff, epimedium, and wild ginger.
Have a topic you'd like Joanne to discuss?
Email your questions and comments to [email protected], or connect with Joanne on her 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.

This week on the podcast, Joanne speaks with Bri Petersen from Urban Gardening Canada about her new e-book, Gardening Basics for the Beginner Gardener.
In this episode:
Beginner Gardeners Need Updated Advice, Not Outdated Rules
So much common gardening advice is based on old habits, like turning over the soil every spring, cleaning up every leaf, or planting by a fixed calendar date. Bri's e-book encourages beginner gardeners to understand how gardening has changed with the climate and why weather, growing zones, and local conditions matter more than old rules.
Bri's E-book Gives New Gardeners the Foundations They Need
Gardening Basics for the Beginner Gardener is designed specifically for beginners, with 13 chapters covering core topics like annuals, perennials, herbaceous plants, growing in containers, raised beds, in-ground gardens, watering, fertilizing, and vegetable gardening. She also includes practical guidance on insects and pests, helping gardeners identify what they are seeing and manage problems without immediately turning to chemicals.
Gardening Success Comes From Curiosity, Confidence, and Practice
One dead plant does not mean you have a "black thumb." Learn what went wrong, adjust next season, understand your garden's conditions, and keep going. New gardeners feel less intimidated and more confident as they build knowledge year after year.
Find Bri Petersen online:
Website: www.urbangardeningcanada.com
Order a copy of her e-book here.
Instagram: @urbangardeningcanada
Facebook: @hellourbangardeningcanada
YouTube: @urbangardeningcanada
Pinterest: @urbangardeningcanada
Have a topic you'd like Joanne to discuss?
Email your questions and comments to [email protected], or connect with Joanne on her 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.

What if you could walk through acres of blooming peonies and cut your own bouquet to take home? In this episode, Joanne welcomes Valérie Chort of Fleur de Roy to share the story behind Southern Ontario's largest pick-your-own peony farm and its short but spectacular bloom season.
Tickets are now available to Pick Your Own Peony Flowers from June 1st to 8th, 2026.
In this episode:
How did a conservation property become a pick-your-own peony farm? Valérie shares the story behind Fleur de Roy, a Southern Ontario peony farm located on a 150-acre property near Lake St. Clair, where conservation, family, and a love of flowers came together in a surprising way.
What does it take to grow thousands of peonies for one short, spectacular season? Joanne and Valérie discuss the patience, planning, timing, and care behind growing peonies, including why these plants take years to establish and why the bloom window is so weather-dependent.
Why is Fleur de Roy's Peony Bloom Festival becoming a must-visit local experience? Valérie explains how the farm has shifted from wholesale flower production to welcoming visitors for a pick-your-own peony experience, with confirmed 2025 opening dates from June 1 to June 8, with the possibility of extending on either side depending on the bloom season.
Visit them online at www.fleurderoy.com or on Facebook, TikTok and Instagram.
Tickets are now available. Purchase them here.
Have a topic you'd like Joanne to discuss?
Email your questions and comments to [email protected], or connect with Joanne on her 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.