Challenge accepted!!!

With the horticultural season wrapping up, Jack, Lynne and Matt McFarland discuss the challenges they faced this year on this week’s episode of The Growing Season. 

Winter 2025 kicks off the show’s content.  How did it feed into this summer’s water table?

A rainy May and then blistering heat for the remainder of the summer.  Do you remember how HOT it was?

There were 18 days of temps above 30 celsius BEFORE the humid in summer 2025. 

What is the “litter layer” of your topsoil? What are “hydrophobic soils?” The trio discuss the challenges of landscape builds during insanely hot temperatures. 

Matt discusses not feeling good enough. Transplant shock mixed with high heat is a recipe for uh-oh.

Norway Maples and why you shouldn’t plant them are highlighted.  It ties into baseball. 

FFF or Frost Free Days become an interesting topic.  The number of frost free days affects when you can start planting and stop planting. 

Matt has sooooo many clients with garden hoses that ABSOLUTELY SUCK!  Matt talks about what to look for in a garden hose. 

The trio update Jack’s health.  Shade/light conditions and their ever changing illumination on-sites frustrates landscape designers. 

“Its irresponsible to design cedars onto a landscape plan…”

Step riser heights and tread depths become more of a focus for elderly people. 

What is a “pop up emitter?”  The trio explain. 

Tune in.

Looking to book a consult for your property?  We'd love to help.  CLICK HERE.

What is a TGS Tiny Garden? CLICK HERE.

Subscribe to The Growing Season podcast.  CLICK HERE.

Is that your Mum?

Its that time of year, ladies and gents.  The Growing Season highlights the wonders of fall on this week's episode. 

Fall Mums, bulbs and much more are the fare that The McFarlands dine out on this week.  

Halloween kicks off the show. Matt talks a little about his kids and their halloween adventures.  On the horticultural side, is it time to remove your annuals?  The trio discuss. 

Ragweed is still raging and pollinating.  How is that possible? 

The Toronto Blue Jays are World Series bound so the McFarlands dive into the horticultural side of this wonderful turn of events. 

Pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and peanuts.  

On the topic of fall mums, can they survive the winter in the GTA?   What are some great companion plants for fall mums? 

Matt tells a story about planters that he recently designed and installed. 

The tulip hysteria in history is highlighted. 

Halloween movies are discussed and Matt appeals to Steven Spielberg's property for landscaping. 

Are you supposed to remove your spring flowering bulbs after they have flowered?  Is that a common practice. 

Lynne outlines how to plant a spring flowering bulb. Bulb blindness!   WHAT!?

Daffodils need to be planted at a different time then other spring flowering bulbs.  Why?  Matt discusses how to choose viable bulbs. 

Dogs and cats and bulb toxicity.  Be careful!

How to deter rodents from relocating your spring flowering bulbs caps the show off. 

Tune in.

Looking to book a consult for your property?  We'd love to help.  CLICK HERE.

What is a TGS Tiny Garden? CLICK HERE.

Subscribe to The Growing Season podcast.  CLICK HERE.

But wait!  There's more!

Break out your Combine Harvesters and enjoy this week's episode of The Growing Season.  Harvest continues to feature front and centre. 

The McFarland's update you, the listener, on Jack's health. 

Matt McFarland discusses how the combine harvester featured prominently into his son's formative years. 

The trio play "The Agricultural Trivia Show" to great results. 

What is to leave the field "fallow?"  Why would someone want to participate in this practice? 

Jack talks about 30" carrots.  HUGE!

Zero till has major benefits.  Lynne discusses. 

PEE CAN BE FERTILIZER!?  WHAT!? Organic matter and healthy soil are linked.  How?

How do you avoid funguses due to watering when this summer past was one of the hottest on records?  Would much have helped?

Corn smut!? Corn WHAT!?

Watering continues to be a focus even at this late stage of the year.

The McFarlands discuss the leading grain being exported out of Canada.  Its not what you think. 

Nitrogen infused apple storage facilities.  This is not science fiction.  Matt has a great movie idea...

Serviceberries are one of the best shrubs for berries.  You should plant them.

What can you be doing in garden right now?  Well, not much, but there are some tasks that can be undertaken at present. 

Tune in.

Looking to book a consult for your property?  We'd love to help.  CLICK HERE.

What is a TGS Tiny Garden? CLICK HERE.

Subscribe to The Growing Season podcast.  CLICK HERE.

Happy Thanksgiving to one and all!

Jack, Lynne and Matt McFarland get Agricultural on this week's episode of The Growing Season. 

Turkey's, Thanksgiving, loosening the belts and much more start the show off in style. 

Pumpkin spice and pies are holiday favourites that Matt tees off on.  Matt gets ranty with Jack about cranberries. 

Do cranberries grow in water?   Why are they harvested this way? Jack thinks he may need cranberries. 

The three sisters!!! What the heck are we talking about? Lynne discusses an indigenous city and how aboriginal peoples lived off the land. 

Corn and blueberries featured prominently in ancient diets.  

Low oxygen, nitrogen and apple storage.  You'll find out something really cool.

The European settlers interacted with the land in a very different fashion than the indigenous peoples.  The McFarlands compare and contrast.  

Matt discusses a really interesting way to pull a stump out of the ground. Speaking of the ground, Jack talks about migrating rocks. 

Dynamite and stumps.  BOOM! Matt tells a story that Jack has told 92,000 times. 

WHAT IS A SPRING HOUSE?  It's really cool, actually. 

What fruits and veggies should be stored together and which ones shouldn't be. 

Tune in.

Looking to book a consult for your property?  We'd love to help.  CLICK HERE.

What is a TGS Tiny Garden? CLICK HERE.

Subscribe to The Growing Season podcast.  CLICK HERE.

These are the ones to watch!

The McFarlands celebrate their 6 year anniversary discussing the all-stars of the autumnal season on this week's episode of The Growing Season. 

Canada geese kick off the show.  Lynne discusses what she learned over the last year.  Jack and Matt chime in. 

Potentillas, sprinklers and irrigation also feature.  

Silver linings and record breaking heat during the summer months are also correlated. 

Jack rants about fall colour change.  Is it stress or is it actual fall colour. 

The science of fall colour change is highlighted. Why is the summer solstice so important?

Red maples vs. Crimson King maple. Jack wonders if the newer, more bespoke varieties of plants, are more susceptible to stress. 

Sedum, black eyed susie, birch, ginkgo, 

The PARKLAND PILLAR BIRCH!   OHHHHH BABY!  Matt gushes. Then he gushes some more. 

Japanese maples feature prominently in the discussion.  Are there fall coloured varieties with the Japanese Maple? 

Unusual?  Lets talk about the 'Flamethrower Redbud.'

Why don't we use the Amur Maple more? The trio discuss. Why did we stop using Viburnums?

Ornamental grasses can be glorious in the fall. 

Tune in.

Looking to book a consult for your property?  We'd love to help.  CLICK HERE.

What is a TGS Tiny Garden? CLICK HERE.

Subscribe to The Growing Season podcast.  CLICK HERE.

Good things come in small packages. 

Jack, Lynne and Matt McFarland chat all things small on this week's episode of The Growing Season.  

Take the full-sized version of a large plant and miniaturize it and that's what we're talking about. 

The differences between full-sized, semi-dwarf and dwarf kick off the show. Espaliers are the first out of the gate. Squirrels and apple trees are a highlight. 

Baseball and apples.  What!?

Blueberries have been tough for The Growing Season to grow.  Matt discusses. 

Shade/light conditions play a huge role in the success of plants. 

Sugar Maples and their smaller cousins become a topic of note.  Is there a "semi-dwarf" sugar maple? Hint, hint... The answer is yes. 

Imagine If You Will and Ghostbusters... The Ginkgo tops off the first half of the show. 

A globe blue spruce is the best way to spend $300 of your horticultural money. Matt HATES Forsythia and he tells you why. 

The 80's figure into the show and Matt relishes the use of 80's music to drive the point home. 

Hydrangeas have been miniaturized.  So have Smokebush - much to the happiness of many.  

Perennial geraniums are some of the most well-behaved, contained little mounders in your garden. 

Yellow coneflowers are compared to Black Eyed Susans. 

DELPHINIUMS CAN GET REALLY BIG!

Why plant miniatures!? Jack, Lynne and Matt discuss. 

Tune in.

Looking to book a consult for your property?  We'd love to help.  CLICK HERE.

What is a TGS Tiny Garden? CLICK HERE.

Subscribe to The Growing Season podcast.  CLICK HERE.

"I'd love it to stay contained and grow slow..."

These are the sentiments uttered by many a client that have crossed the McFarland's path. 

Jack, Lynne and Matt McFarland dive into plants that are just what a client ordered on this week's episode of The Growing Season.

Algae kicks the show off and you'll find out why. Juniper tags in quick and The McFarland's give these lovely evergreens their due. 

Pfitzers, Icee Blue, Blue Rug, Blue Chip and many more junipers are discussed.

What is a "Pancake Juniper?" The Korean Spice viburnum and its lack of use on Growing Season designs are mentioned. 

Plant repetition and colour repetition are design elements that make a wonderful connection to various parts of your property. 

Black Eyed Susies... OHHHH BABY.  The McFarland's get REALLY excited about perennial geraniums. 

Why don't shrubs grow in a square shape?   It's a curious question. 

The Growing Season is award winning once again. The trio explain. 

Matt gets hormonal with Spruce and it leads to "Imagine If You Will..."

The gloriousness that are coral bells are highlighted.  Also: DOGWOODS!

The McFarlands spend some time reminiscing about the 1980's and why so many popular plants from that era fell out of favour. 

Nest spruce is something you should try.  Evergreens finish the show off in style. 

Tune in.

Looking to book a consult for your property?  We'd love to help.  CLICK HERE.

What is a TGS Tiny Garden? CLICK HERE.

Subscribe to The Growing Season podcast.  CLICK HERE.

What's with all the insect activity!?

Have you seen an upswing in insects in the garden of late?   Jack, Lynne and Matt McFarland dive into an increased presence of pollinators on this week's episode of The Growing Season. 

Grasshoppers and bees kick the show off.  Do grasshoppers pollinate anything? You'll be surprised to know. 

Ants and Trilliums - there is a relationship there. Wasps and timber steps = stings for Matt. 

Jack tells the same 13 stories over and over.  This comes right in the middle of a conversation about almond pollination. 

What is creating seasonal allergies at this time of the year?  

The trio play "Imagine If You Will" and become bees.  3 of 1500 brothers and sisters. 

Speaking of bees, they dominate the second half of the first part of the show.  You'll come away with some knowledge...

"Sweet swelling..."

Bee food: zinnia, perennial geranium, sedum, coneflower, daisies, lavender, bee balm and golden rod are all some of the last meals for the bees before winter. 

Nanoscale ridges...WHAT!?

Moths get their time in the spotlight.  They are wonderful pollinators and do not get enough credit. 

How do they see at night? 

Emily McFarland and her spider features.

Pollination by lawn machine and pollination by GMC are giggled about. 

Building a bee hive features on Tips For Success From The Growing Season. Nuc's and what they are start the conversation off. 

Albert Einstein and his theories cap the show off. 

Tune in.

Looking to book a consult for your property?  We'd love to help.  CLICK HERE.

What is a TGS Tiny Garden? CLICK HERE.

Subscribe to The Growing Season podcast.  CLICK HERE.

More WOOD!  

You WOULDN’T want to miss this. 

Jack, Lynne and Matt McFarland continue their Woodland Garden series on this week’s episode of The Growing Season.

Picking up where last week’s episode left off, the trio dive into the plant material specifics that would look appropriate in a Woodland Design. 

Matt describes some curious behaviour on plants that he's currently observing on-sites. Jack outlines the two plants that tell you if there is enough water being applied to your flower beds. 

The lifecycle of the fern is outlined.  It sounds like science fiction.  Puddles are key.  GAMETOPHYTES!

Lindens and their recent tendency to shed is discussed. 

The King Ostrich Fern and its INSANE size becomes a focal point.  Matt compares and contrasts ferns to cedars. 

Hostas are the queen of the shade and, YET, Jack and Lynne have Hostas in full sun that are THRIVING. 

Planting proximity to tree trunks and its effect on growth comes into focus. 

Eastern Redbuds, their bark and their flowering tendencies are highlighted.  Witch hazel is THE BEST. 

The McFarland's create a "doesn't do anything" garden on-air. 

A transplanted rhododendron, and its success in transplant, is a story that Matt tells. 

The show caps-off with a discussion on lighting a woodland garden. 

Tune in.

Looking to book a consult for your property?  We'd love to help.  CLICK HERE.

What is a TGS Tiny Garden? CLICK HERE.

Subscribe to The Growing Season podcast.  CLICK HERE.

Sometimes you just gotta go for a walk in the woods.

The McFarland's put their face in the mulch on this week's episode of The Growing Season.  

Jack, Lynne and Matt dive into part 1 of a two part series highlighting how to design and build a "woodland garden."

What makes a woodland garden a woodland garden?   Jack spins a yarn about a large woodland area that he created, for a client, in the 80's.  

Jack and Matt guide the listenership through an estimation exercise. 

Is there a natural way to deal with mosquitos?  What chemical is being used in the foggers?

A discussion about flowering dogwood's happens naturally. Crown and skirt lifting are discussed. 

Rock gardens and slope are used to begin the on-air install of a woodland garden. 

Trilliums and foxglove come into focus. 

Size of a sitting area in a woodland setting is discussed with Matt chatting about how he designs sizes for patios.

What pavers are commonly used for woodland garden?  The trio discuss. 

Layers and textures of plant materials and the hard surfaces are key to implementing an effective woodland garden.

Birch trees are gushed over. Matt chats about the unwanted family members associated with some trees.

A listener question prompts a discussion about growing a garden fabric grow bags. 

Tune in.

Looking to book a consult for your property?  We'd love to help.  CLICK HERE.

What is a TGS Tiny Garden? CLICK HERE.

Subscribe to The Growing Season podcast.  CLICK HERE.