Grow Olives Where You Think You Can't with Steven Biggs
Down The Garden Path Podcast
This week, Joanne speaks with horticulturist and author Steven Biggs about his latest book, Grow Olives Where You Think You Can’t: How to Grow an Olive Tree in a Pot. About Steven Biggs Steven was recognized by Garden Making magazine as one of the “green gang” making a difference in Canadian horticulture. His home-garden experiments span driveway straw-bale gardens, a rooftop kitchen garden, fruit plantings, and an edible-themed front yard. He's a horticulturist, award-winning broadcaster and author, and former horticulture instructor with George Brown and Durham Colleges in...
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What's Wrong With My Boxwood?
Down The Garden Path Podcast
This week on Down the Garden Path, Joanne discusses strategies to prevent a box tree moth infestation and explores the moth’s continued impact on boxwoods in Durham Region. Here are some of the topics discussed in this episode: The impact of the box tree moth on boxwoods Its discovery in Ontario in 2018 and its recent appearance in Durham Region Box Tree Moth Life Cycle: The adult moth has a short lifespan of 14 days but is a strong flyer, making it challenging to control The challenges in controlling the pest are due to its rapid reproduction and ability to survive cold winters Presents a...
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Groundcover Revolution with Kathy Jentz
Down The Garden Path Podcast
The traditional lawn has received a lot of heat over the last few years with many recommending alternatives such as micro-clovers and specialized lawn blends. In this encore episode of Down the Garden Path, Joanne Shaw and Matthew Dressing speak with Kathy Jentz, author of , about the groundcover plants you can use to create a beautiful lawn alternative of your own. About Kathy Jentz Kathy Jentz is the editor and publisher of the award-winning magazine, based in Washington, DC. She hosts the popular and is co-author of and author of . Here are some of the questions and topics covered...
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Pondless Water Features & More with Ernest Williams from Aquascape
Down The Garden Path Podcast
This week on the podcast, Joanne Shaw speaks with Ernest Williams from Aquascape about the popularity of water features in landscaping, including pondless designs, fountainscapes, and natural swimming ponds. Here are some of the topics discussed in this episode: Pondless Water Features in Landscaping Increasingly popular in landscaping for their low maintenance and safety Enhances curb appeal and attracts wildlife Provides the sound of water without the upkeep of traditional ponds Preferred by homeowners seeking aesthetics and simplicity Pondless Water Features Design and Functionality ...
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Frontier Mushrooms with Deb McKee Kelly
Down The Garden Path Podcast
This week, Joanne Shaw speaks with Deb McKee Kelly from Frontier Mushrooms, a leading producer of high-quality, sustainably grown mushrooms. About Deb McKee Kelly Deb is a longtime grower and passionate advocate for reconnecting with the natural world. Based in Grey County, Ontario, she has spent years cultivating gardens, food crops, and for the past 10 years, gourmet mushrooms. Today, her work with mushrooms and mycelium focuses on sustainable growing practices, education, and innovative uses for fungi in food systems and beyond. With a deep respect for nature’s intelligence — and a...
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Plants Always Win Podcast with Sean Patchett and Erin Alladin
Down The Garden Path Podcast
This week on Down the Garden Path, Joanne speaks with Erin Alladin and Sean Patchett about their podcast, Plants Always Win. Plants Always Win Podcast is a podcast where two Ontario gardeners dive down plant-fact rabbit holes, answer audience questions, interview intriguing guests, and compete to bring you the most interesting stories and information. Erin Alladin, a.k.a. Earth Undaunted, is a professional communicator with a love for gardens, especially garden ecosystems. She’s known online for her writing and videos about gardening with chronic illness and disability, as well as her...
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Growing Lettuce, Spinach and Potatoes with Julia Dimakos
Down The Garden Path Podcast
In this episode of Down the Garden Path, Joanne Shaw discusses growing fresh staples like lettuce, spinach and potatoes with “The Gardening Girl” Julia Dimakos. About Julia Dimakos 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 14 years. She was twice published in Canadian Organic Grower magazine and became a published author in July 2022 with her first book, . In this episode, Joanne asked Julia about a few things we can grow ourselves instead of buying...
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Perennial Plant Association with Ed Lyon
Down The Garden Path Podcast
This week on Down the Garden Path, Joanne Shaw speaks with Ed Lyon, president-elect of the Perennial Plant Association. About Ed Lyon Throughout his public garden administration roles and green industry experience, Ed has been as passionate about education as he is about horticulture. He has had roles in public garden education departments and served as director of three public gardens for twenty years. He retired from public garden service in 2024 and currently sits on the Perennial Plant Association (PPA) board as president-elect. Here are some of the topics discussed in this episode: The...
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Growing a Career in Horticulture with Art Vanden Enden
Down The Garden Path Podcast
This week, Joanne Shaw welcomes Art Vanden Enden to the podcast to discuss exploring a career in horticulture. About Art Vanden Enden Art Vanden Enden is self-employed as a Horticultural Advisor and Horticultural Technical Instructor at Landscape Ontario and Loyalist College. He also serves on the board at , and . He has a long history in the garden centre industry, starting with Weall & Cullen and then Sheridan Nurseries until his retirement in 2022. Here are some of the topics discussed in this episode: The Pandemic's Positive Impact on the Younger Generation The positive impact...
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Adapt & Thrive: Gardening in a Changing Climate with Bri Petersen
Down The Garden Path Podcast
This week on Down the Garden Path podcast, Joanne Shaw speaks with Bri Petersen of Urban Gardening Canada about her new course, Adapt & Thrive: Gardening in a Changing Climate. About Urban Gardening Canada The vision of Urban Gardening Canada (UGC) is to provide accessible gardening advice to all Canadians, regardless of location, housing type or budget. Food security and sustainability are two of the main pillars of UGC. Bri believes that gardening should be accessible to all. Here are some of the topics covered in this episode: Bri left her job in finance to chase her dreams as a...
info_outlineThis 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 yard
- You’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 [email protected], 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.
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