In this episode of Down the Garden Path, we revisit last spring's conversation with Ernest Williams from Aquascape about how pondless water features can bring the beauty, movement, and soothing sound of water into your yard.

Here are some of the topics discussed in this episode:

Pondless water features offer beauty with less maintenance: Pondless waterfalls, fountainscapes, spillway bowls, bubbling rocks, urns, basalt columns, and disappearing streams allow homeowners to enjoy the sound and movement of water without the maintenance and safety concerns of a traditional pond.

Water features can transform the feel of a yard: Water adds calm, sound, movement, and atmosphere to outdoor spaces. Use water features to create a backyard oasis, improve curb appeal, attract birds and wildlife, soften traffic or neighbour noise, and make your home feel more like a cottage retreat.

Water features can also solve practical landscape problems: Pondless features, aqua basins, aqua blocks, and rainwater collection systems can help manage runoff, wet areas, downspout water, drainage challenges, and stormwater concerns.

To learn more about pondless water features and everything Aquascape offers, visit them at www.aquascapeinc.com and view their videos on YouTube.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 RulesSo 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 NeedGardening 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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 discusses do's and don'ts for your May garden, and walks you through what to do now, what to wait on, and how to give your garden the best start for the season ahead.

Be patient and let the May garden guide your timing. May can be unpredictable, especially after a cool, wet winter. Instead of rushing into cleanup, planting, pruning, seeding, or mowing, gardeners should pay attention to soil moisture, insect activity, nighttime temperatures, and frost risk.

Focus on smart spring maintenance for perennials, shrubs, evergreens, and lawns. Learn what to clean up, what to leave alone, and what to handle carefully. Topics include: pruning spring-blooming shrubs too early, lightly cleaning up evergreens, feeding soil, waiting to seed lawns, and mowing high.

Start vegetables, herbs, annuals, and containers thoughtfully. Get excited about growing food, herbs, and seasonal containers, but with a practical approach. Topics include: hardening off vegetables, planting cool-season crops like lettuce and spinach, using herbs to attract pollinators, involving kids in gardening, and choosing larger containers so annuals can thrive through the season.

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.

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.

Thinking about growing your own lettuce, spinach, and potatoes this spring? In this April 2025 encore episode, Joanne chats with Julia Dimakos about successfully growing these popular vegetables at home.

In this episode:

• How to grow lettuce successfully for fresh, continuous harvests Julia explores the basics of growing lettuce from seed, including the importance of starting with fresh seed, giving seeds light to germinate, transplanting early, spacing plants properly, succession sowing every couple of weeks, and choosing varieties for cool weather versus summer heat.
• Why spinach is a cool-season crop with a very different rhythm from lettuce Unlike lettuce, spinach prefers cold conditions, struggles in heat, bolts quickly in warm weather, and does especially well when sown now and again in mid-August for fall and even overwintered harvests.
• How to grow healthier, homegrown potatoes Growing your own potatoes can be healthier and more rewarding than buying them. Julia explains the importance of seed potatoes, pre-sprouting, planting whole potatoes rather than cut pieces, choosing between determinate and indeterminate varieties, and growing in raised beds, grow bags, or containers.

Find Julia Dimakos online:

Website: www.juliadimakos.com

Instagram: @juliadimakos

YouTube: @gardeninggirl

Check out a few of her past episodes:

All About Tomatoes

Microgreens & Sprouting

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.

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 chats with Manny Lavrador about the growing interest in native trees and how to choose the right one for your property.

• Why are native trees such an important topic right now? More gardeners and homeowners are looking for plants that support the environment, work well in local ecosystems, and respond to growing concerns about invasive species.
• What is the most important thing to remember when choosing a native tree? That even a native tree still needs to be the right tree for the right place, based on the space, conditions, and goals of the garden.
• Are native trees always the best choice for every yard? Not necessarily. This episode demonstrates that while native trees have many benefits, hybrids and nativars can sometimes be a better fit for smaller urban lots or for homeowners looking for lower-maintenance options.

You can find Manny Lavrador on LinkedIn.

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.

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.

Have you been hesitant to add roses to your garden? This week on the podcast, Joanne talks with Paul Zimmerman about Jackson & Perkins' expansion into Canada, what it means for rose lovers, and why these cold-hardy, Canadian-grown roses may be easier to grow than many gardeners think.

In this episode:

• Roses are becoming more accessible for Canadian gardeners. Jackson & Perkins roses are now available in the Canadian market, with roses being grown, tested, and shipped within Canada through their partnership with Bakker.
• Modern roses are not as high-maintenance as many people think. Paul challenges the old idea that roses are fussy and chemical-dependent, explaining that many newer roses are bred for better disease resistance and can be grown sustainably with good soil, smart plant choice, and realistic expectations.
• Choosing the right rose for the right purpose is key. Roses should be selected based on their role in the garden, whether for height, spread, colour, season-long interest, or vertical growing, rather than just choosing one because the flower looks pretty in the pot.

Learn more at jacksonandperkins.ca. Find them online on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube and Instagram.

Find Paul Zimmerman online at paulzimmermanroses.com and watch his how-to videos on YouTube.

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.

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.