The Growing Season

How do your favourite plants survive through the winter? 

You'd be surprised to learn of the amazing environmental adaptations that horticultural organisms have adopted to make it through the harshest conditions. 

The McFarlands chat about the botany behind this and much more. 

In the second half of the show Chris St. Clair re-joins The Growing Season to chat about legendary, cataclysmic winter storms.  The ice storms of 1998 and 2013 are featured. 

Its a celebration of all things winter!

Follow Chris St. Clair  on Twitter. CLICK HERE.

Visit The Weather Network online. CLICK HERE.

Need a visual?  We gotchu.  CLICK HERE.

Looking to book a consult for your property to get ahead of the Spring rush?  We'd love to help.  CLICK HERE.

What is a TGS Tiny Garden? CLICK HERE.

Subscribe to The Growing Season podcast.  CLICK HERE.

Watch "The Land Line," our LIVE streaming show.  CLICK HERE. 

Quick!   What is the most annoying weed to remove from your garden? 

In our opinion its the Nettle.  But just guess what many are using to make textiles from?  You guessed it - our prickly pal the Nettle.

On this week's episode of The Growing Season The McFarlands chat about the various horticultural organisms used to make textiles.

Bananas, Pineapples, Flax, Corn, Hemp, Jute, Silk, Sisal and Sugar Cane are all touched on.  Even your food waste and MANURE is being used to create fabric. 

You'll look at your clothes a whole lot differently after you hear Jack, Lynne and Matt discuss them.

Need a visual?  We gotchu.  CLICK HERE.

Looking to book a consult for your property to get ahead of the Spring rush?  We'd love to help.  CLICK HERE.

What is a TGS Tiny Garden? CLICK HERE.

Subscribe to The Growing Season podcast.  CLICK HERE.

Watch "The Land Line," our LIVE streaming show.  CLICK HERE. 

Just because we can't get away to a tropical locale doesn't mean we can't bring the islands to you!

The McFarlands kick off 2021 with some sunscreen.  The Growing Season chats about many of the plants you'd see on a destination vacation.

Heliconia, palm trees, bamboo and much more are touched on.  Have you ever seen a cashew fruit?  You're gonna be amazed!

Sit back and smile through just under an hour of laughs and lei's!

Need a visual?  We gotchu.  CLICK HERE.

Looking to book a consult for your property to get ahead of the Spring rush?  We'd love to help.  CLICK HERE.

What is a TGS Tiny Garden? CLICK HERE.

Subscribe to The Growing Season podcast.  CLICK HERE.

Watch "The Land Line," our LIVE streaming show.  CLICK HERE. 

It's the last episode of 2020.

The Growing Season caps the year off in style with a chat about all those horticultural gifts you got for Christmas and now have to figure out what to do with them.

FELCO's, snake plants, seeds, teas - how do you properly store these items or care for them?  Jack, Lynne and Matt tackle the ins and outs of it.

The piece de resistance is a sit down with Chris Colaneri.  Chris and his family own Niagara's Colaneri Estate Winery and they make some of the finest wine in all of Canada.

The McFarlands are treated to a walk through the horticultural aspects of wine making.  How did COVID19 affect Chris' business?  How did they rebound from everything that happened.  It's part 1 of a wonderful chat with a fun, warm and energetic person. 

Find Colaneri Estate Wines ONLINE. CLICK HERE.

Need a visual?  We gotchu.  CLICK HERE.

Looking to book a consult for your property to get ahead of the Spring rush?  We'd love to help.  CLICK HERE.

What is a TGS Tiny Garden? CLICK HERE.

Subscribe to The Growing Season podcast.  CLICK HERE.

Watch "The Land Line," our LIVE streaming show.  CLICK HERE. 

Its beginning to smell a lot like Christmas!

We're almost there!  Santa is almost here. On this week's episode of The Growing Season the McFarlands chat about many of the horticultural visitors that arrive at this time of the year.

Poinsettias, nuts and trees all feature heavily in the Christmas Season and TGS crew chat about it all. 

The cherry on top of the show is Allison Johnston of The Spice Trader. 

A WONDERFUL guest, Allison guides The McFarlands through all the spices that feature prominently during this time of the year.

Frankincense, myrrh, nutmeg and many more are all touched on.  You'll laugh along as the quartet give you a window into the mind of one of The Growing Season's favourite guests.

Follow The Spice Trader  on Twitter. CLICK HERE.

Visit The Spice Trader online. CLICK HERE.

Need a visual?  We gotchu.  CLICK HERE.

Looking to book a consult for your property to get ahead of the Spring rush?  We'd love to help.  CLICK HERE.

What is a TGS Tiny Garden? CLICK HERE.

Subscribe to The Growing Season podcast.  CLICK HERE.

Watch "The Land Line," our LIVE streaming show.  CLICK HERE. 

What does the winter have in store for us Southern Ontarians? 

Chris St. Clair, of The Weather Network, rejoins us on The Growing Season to chat about the upcoming La Nina and what exactly that means for our snow shovels.

Jack, Lynne, Matt and Chris touch on a myriad of topics including the melting of the polar ice caps, 100 year storms and flooding. 

If you're a weather junkie you're going to love the chat.

On the Christmas side of things The Growing Season chats about real vs. artificial Christmas trees.  Matt discovers that Crown Land is.

Follow Chris St. Clair  on Twitter. CLICK HERE.

Visit The Weather Network online. CLICK HERE.

Need a visual?  We gotchu.  CLICK HERE.

Looking to book a consult for your property to get ahead of the Spring rush?  We'd love to help.  CLICK HERE.

What is a TGS Tiny Garden? CLICK HERE.

Subscribe to The Growing Season podcast.  CLICK HERE.

Watch "The Land Line," our LIVE streaming show.  CLICK HERE. 

Let's see what everybody else is doing. 

The McFarlands pack up The Growing Season and traverse the globe to chat about what other cultures use for Christmas Trees. 

Jack, Lynne and Matt chat about the Philippines, New Zealand, Germany, Greenland, Ireland, The UK and more. 

You'd be surprised to learn about the Kiwi Christmas Tree!

The Growing Season also chats about The Norfolk Island Pine, a tropical plant that can be used as an alternate Christmas Tree. 

Need a visual?  We gotchu.  CLICK HERE.

Looking to book a consult for your property to get ahead of the Spring rush?  We'd love to help.  CLICK HERE.

What is a TGS Tiny Garden? CLICK HERE.

Subscribe to The Growing Season podcast.  CLICK HERE.

Watch "The Land Line," our LIVE streaming show.  CLICK HERE. 

Last week we talked about the sweaters, now lets get to the boots...err roots in this case. 

After chatting about the bark of a plant The McFarlands go below ground and discuss the ins and outs of a plant's root system. 

Can roots relocate?  What is the best way to care for a trees feeding and anchor system?  Its all laid out for you.

You might reconsider using salt of any kind on your property after this show. 

Need a visual?  We gotchu.  CLICK HERE.

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

What is a TGS Tiny Garden? CLICK HERE.

Subscribe to The Growing Season podcast.  CLICK HERE.

Watch "The Land Line," our LIVE streaming show.  CLICK HERE. 

Its all bark!

Jack, Lynne and Matt McFarland discuss what's under the hood of your favourite plant materials.

What exactly is bark and, outside of the obvious, why is it necessary?

The thickest bark, the thinnest and the interesting environmental adaptations that plants have made over the years are all touched on.

Looking for bark for winter interest?  We have you covered.

Need a visual?  We gotchu.  CLICK HERE.

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

What is a TGS Tiny Garden? CLICK HERE.

Subscribe to The Growing Season podcast.  CLICK HERE.

Watch "The Land Line," our LIVE streaming show.  CLICK HERE. 

We’ve seen it all and much more. 

Over the course of 70 years on landscape sites The McFarlands have encountered many of the “don’ts” of horticulture. 

Unstaked trees, stakes left on too long, salt damage on shrubbery, berms and trees planted over under ground parking garages are just some of the things that are discussed on this episode of The Growing Season.

What do Jack, Lynne and Matt not recommend planting?  They detail their choices and why they've made them.

Need a visual?  We gotchu.  CLICK HERE.

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

What is a TGS Tiny Garden? CLICK HERE.

Subscribe to The Growing Season podcast.  CLICK HERE.

Watch "The Land Line," our LIVE streaming show.  CLICK HERE.