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The Helpful Gardeners
The Helpful Gardeners episodes
- Why Do Propagated Plants Crave Soil?
Ever watched one of those viral gardening videos and thought, "Huh, that's interesting... but also a little confusing?" We did too after seeing a popular video online of someone propagating basil in water. It developed beautiful roots, but then came the head-scratcher: why, oh why, do we then take those water-loving roots and plant them in soil that's designed to drain water away? Why do plants not like their roots sitting in water? We're diving deep into that very question in today's episode.
CONNECT WITH US
Thank you so much for supporting our podcast and for making the world a more planty place. Please subscribe, leave a rating or review and listen in for new gardening discussions every week! Golden Acre Home & Garden is located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and open 362 a year for all your home and garden needs!
Instagram | thehelpfulgardenerspod
Leave us a Voice Note: www.goldenacre.ca/podcast
Hosted by: Brandi Warren & Colin Hayles
Voiceover by: Kaelan Shimp
Music by: Forestmusic
CREDITS
12 min - Checking in to the Bug Hotel
So, you know how things go when you're tidying up the garden in the fall? Brandi's husband got really into his cleanup this year and ended up building something totally awesome: a bug hotel! It got us thinking about these cool little shelters and how they're basically VIP lounges for all the helpful insects that keep our gardens thriving. As the weather gets chilly, these tiny neighbors need a safe spot to crash, so let's get into the low-down on building a snug bug hotel in your own space!
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CONNECT WITH US
Thank you so much for supporting our podcast and for making the world a more planty place. Please subscribe, leave a rating or review and listen in for new gardening discussions every week! Golden Acre Home & Garden is located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and open 362 a year for all your home and garden needs!
Show Notes | www.goldenacre.ca/podcast
Instagram | thehelpfulgardenerspod
Leave us a Voice Note: www.goldenacre.ca/podcast
CREDITS
Hosted by: Brandi Warren & Colin Hayles
Voiceover by: Kaelan Shimp
Music by: Forestmusic
12 min - 6 Plants to Inspire your 2026 Garden
Have you ever stood in the nursery aisle feeling totally overwhelmed by choices? Do you have a Pinterest board full of inspiration but not sure how to narrow it down? Well, the National Garden Bureau (NGB) just gave us the ultimate planting list for a little inspiration. They recently announced their official "Year Of" selections for 2026, and it’s a super helpful list covering everything from shade lovers to spicy edibles.
The NGB picks a handful of plants each year across six major categories—annuals, edibles, bulbs, perennials, shrubs, and houseplants—to shine a spotlight on, giving us all permission to become experts on these specific beauties. I don't know about you, but it's nice to find these lists for a little nudge to get the ball rolling on a planning sesh.
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CONNECT WITH US
Thank you so much for supporting our podcast and for making the world a more planty place. Please subscribe, leave a rating or review and listen in for new gardening discussions every week! Golden Acre Home & Garden is located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and open 362 a year for all your home and garden needs!
Show Notes | www.goldenacre.ca/podcast
Instagram | thehelpfulgardenerspod
Leave us a Voice Note: www.goldenacre.ca/podcast
CREDITS
Hosted by: Brandi Warren & Colin Hayles
Voiceover by: Kaelan Shimp
Music by: Forestmusic
24 min - How to Bring New Houseplants Home
It's one of the greatest feelings: walking out of the nursery with a new houseplant baby. But, if you’ve ever had a plant instantly start dropping leaves or, worse, introduce an unwelcome pest to your collection, you know that the journey from the store shelf to your living room is the most crucial part of its life! We got a great question from Nicole this week that we're answering on the podcast.
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CONNECT WITH US
Thank you so much for supporting our podcast and for making the world a more planty place. Please subscribe, leave a rating or review and listen in for new gardening discussions every week! Golden Acre Home & Garden is located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and open 362 a year for all your home and garden needs!
Show Notes | www.goldenacre.ca/podcast
Instagram | thehelpfulgardenerspod
Leave us a Voice Note: www.goldenacre.ca/podcast
CREDITS
Hosted by: Brandi Warren & Colin Hayles
Voiceover by: Kaelan Shimp
Music by: Forestmusic
21 min - Monarch Butterflies Are Back! (Mostly)
If you’ve been following the news about Monarch Butterflies, you know that life for these delicate travelers has been looking pretty rough. However, there's a ray of hope we need to talk about in this episode.
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CONNECT WITH US
Thank you so much for supporting our podcast and for making the world a more planty place. Please subscribe, leave a rating or review and listen in for new gardening discussions every week! Golden Acre Home & Garden is located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and open 362 a year for all your home and garden needs!
Show Notes | www.goldenacre.ca/podcast
Instagram | thehelpfulgardenerspod
Leave us a Voice Note: www.goldenacre.ca/podcast
CREDITS
Hosted by: Brandi Warren & Colin Hayles
Voiceover by: Kaelan Shimp
Music by: Forestmusic
14 min - Nutty Things are Happening
Has your backyard (and pretty much every park path) been turned into an obstacle course of crunchy, rolling acorns lately? This week, we dive into "mast years"—nature's boom-and-bust cycle that oak trees go through with nut production. Learn why your local squirrels are having the feast of their lives, where the word "acorn" actually comes from, and a childhood favourite, and not so favourite, of Colin's.
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CONNECT WITH US
Thank you so much for supporting our podcast and for making the world a more planty place. Please subscribe, leave a rating or review and listen in for new gardening discussions every week! Golden Acre Home & Garden is located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and open 362 a year for all your home and garden needs!
Show Notes | www.goldenacre.ca/podcast
Instagram | thehelpfulgardenerspod
Leave us a Voice Note: www.goldenacre.ca/podcast
CREDITS
Hosted by: Brandi Warren & Colin Hayles
Voiceover by: Kaelan Shimp
Music by: Forestmusic
17 min - Seed Saver's Secrets
Learning how to save the seeds is the ultimate trick to scoring a guaranteed bumper crop of all your favorite garden goodies. Plus, Colin brings another treasure from his garden to try and it's cuca-amazing!
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CONNECT WITH US
Thank you so much for supporting our podcast and for making the world a more planty place. Please subscribe, leave a rating or review and listen in for new gardening discussions every week! Golden Acre Home & Garden is located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and open 362 a year for all your home and garden needs!
Show Notes | www.goldenacre.ca/podcast
Instagram | thehelpfulgardenerspod
Leave us a Voice Note: www.goldenacre.ca/podcast
CREDITS
Hosted by: Brandi Warren & Colin Hayles
Voiceover by: Kaelan Shimp
Music by: Forestmusic
23 min - Space Junk in Your Garden?
This week, Brandi found a random Nerf dart stuck in her perennial border, and that sparked a serious (and slightly hilarious) question: What would happen if you found actual space junk in your yard? While we were laughing about toy foam, farmers across the Prairies are seriously being asked to keep an eye out for debris from satellites!
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CONNECT WITH US
Thank you so much for supporting our podcast and for making the world a more planty place. Please subscribe, leave a rating or review and listen in for new gardening discussions every week! Golden Acre Home & Garden is located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and open 362 a year for all your home and garden needs!
Show Notes | www.goldenacre.ca/podcast
Instagram | thehelpfulgardenerspod
Leave us a Voice Note: www.goldenacre.ca/podcast
CREDITS
Hosted by: Brandi Warren & Colin Hayles
Voiceover by: Kaelan Shimp
Music by: Forestmusic
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CONNECT WITH US
Thank you so much for supporting our podcast and for making the world a more planty place. Please subscribe, leave a rating or review and listen in for new gardening discussions every week! Golden Acre Home & Garden is located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and open 362 a year for all your home and garden needs!
Show Notes | www.goldenacre.ca/podcast
Instagram | thehelpfulgardenerspod
Leave us a Voice Note: www.goldenacre.ca/podcast
CREDITS
Hosted by: Brandi Warren & Colin Hayles
Voiceover by: Kaelan Shimp
Music by: Forestmusic
17 min - I Can't Feel My Face | Halloween Special
Happy Halloween, plant friends! This week, we're getting into the spooky spirit by dressing up as ghosts! We're diving into the creepiest plants and fungi that carry the word 'Ghost' (or something equally spooky!) right in their name. Plus, Colin brought either a trick or a treat from his garden and things get heated...
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CONNECT WITH US
Thank you so much for supporting our podcast and for making the world a more planty place. Please subscribe, leave a rating or review and listen in for new gardening discussions every week! Golden Acre Home & Garden is located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and open 362 a year for all your home and garden needs!
Show Notes | www.goldenacre.ca/podcast
Instagram | thehelpfulgardenerspod
Leave us a Voice Note: www.goldenacre.ca/podcast
CREDITS
Hosted by: Brandi Warren & Colin Hayles
Voiceover by: Kaelan Shimp
Music by: Forestmusic
14 min - Plant Cosmos Using the Cosmos | Moon Phase Gardening
We took a journey to the sky, exploring a gardening method that's been guiding humans for centuries: Moon Gardening. It turns out the moon doesn’t just control the tides; for gardeners, it might also control what you plant and when!
Shout out to Jennifer for sending us this question:
"This was my first year gardening and I've got the bug! I've started planning my garden for next year and read some things about planting by moon cycles. I was wondering if you could give some info on this topic - is it total bunk or actually useful?"
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CONNECT WITH US
Thank you so much for supporting our podcast and for making the world a more planty place. Please subscribe, leave a rating or review and listen in for new gardening discussions every week! Golden Acre Home & Garden is located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and open 362 a year for all your home and garden needs!
Show Notes | www.goldenacre.ca/podcast
Instagram | thehelpfulgardenerspod
Leave us a Voice Note: www.goldenacre.ca/podcast
CREDITS
Hosted by: Brandi Warren & Colin Hayles
Voiceover by: Kaelan Shimp
Music by: Forestmusic
25 min
About The Helpful Gardeners
From the publisher's feed
Welcome to the Helpful Gardeners, a weekly podcast diving into the home and garden topics you want to learn more about. Colin is a certified horticulturist with decades of experience working in landscaping, gardening and houseplants in various climactic zones. Brandi is a beginner with a passion to ask questions.
Subscribe to catch new episodes every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday!