The Landscaping Podcast

In this episode I speak with Xavier and Yasmin Schaff, a husband and wife from Victoria where Xavier is a co-owner of Alchemy Landscaping and Yasmin is the creator of askWillow, an AI quoting app made purely for landscapers.

It was great getting to talk to Xavier about his business and I found there were a lot of similarities between the way he's gone about things compared to me, and then hearing about the app he and Yasmin have developed, based off of the challenges and sticking points Xavier has come across in his business, made me excited to understand more about it.

If you are interested in anything you heard on this episode, the best place to start is The Landscaper’s Corner - a free community built for landscape business owners. Real conversations about pricing, staff, clients, and job management. No negativity, no fluff. Just honest people sharing what’s working and what isn’t.

- Join free: community.askwillow.ai/communities/groups/the-landscapers-corner/home
- Try Ask Willow free for 14 days: app.askwillow.ai
- Follow on Instagram: instagram.com/askwillow
- Follow on YouTube: youtube.com/@askWillow

You can now sign up to The Landscaping School! It's live and ready for you to increase your landscaping skills. Head to TheLandscapingSchool.com where you'll find 6 separate courses, as well as a free course in pondless waterfall construction. You can also bundle 4 courses together and only pay for 3 and now I've also added The BIG Bundle, which is all 6 courses for the price of 4! Check it out!

You can follow along with the projects we're currently working on via our Instagram page
@instyle_gardens
@thelandscapingpodcast

You can view each episode on our YouTube channel

In this episode I speak with Craig Turner from Echuca Shepparton Plant Farm. Craig owns the nurseries with his wife Kate, as well as their landscape design business and tree farm, so they're quite busy!

I loved chatting to Craig and hearing how he started out, as well as hearing about how all of his various businesses have started.

You can follow Craig on Instagram @echucasheppartonplantfarm

You can now sign up to The Landscaping School! It's live and ready for you to increase your landscaping skills. Head to TheLandscapingSchool.com where you'll find 6 separate courses, as well as a free course in pondless waterfall construction. You can also bundle 4 courses together and only pay for 3 and now I've also added The BIG Bundle, which is all 6 courses for the price of 4! Check it out!

You can follow along with the projects we're currently working on via our Instagram page
@instyle_gardens
@thelandscapingpodcast

You can view each episode on our YouTube channel

In this episode I speak with Debbie Laporte from Orterra Design, a Landscape Architecture company based in Brisbane who has now branched out into a whole home service with Orterra Home. Debbie now offers Architecture, Interior Design and Landscape Architecture all under the one roof, so I wanted to find out the story behind where it all began.

You can follow Debbie on Instagram @orterradesign and @orterrahome

You can now sign up to The Landscaping School! It's live and ready for you to increase your landscaping skills. Head to TheLandscapingSchool.com where you'll find 6 separate courses, as well as a free course in pondless waterfall construction. You can also bundle 4 courses together and only pay for 3 and now I've also added The BIG Bundle, which is all 6 courses for the price of 4! Check it out!

You can follow along with the projects we're currently working on via our Instagram page
@instyle_gardens
@thelandscapingpodcast

You can view each episode on our YouTube channel

In this episode I speak with Jason Martino from Etch Landscape Design, a landscape design business based in NSW who works predominantly around the South Coast and Southern Highlands.

I loved hearing Jason's origin story about how he started in landscape design straight out of school and also did additional study in landscape construction to get a better understanding of the industry as a whole.

He also talks about the challenges of different design programs and explains to me what a DA is that's required on some projects.

You can follow Jason on Instagram @etch.landscape.design

You can now sign up to The Landscaping School! It's live and ready for you to increase your landscaping skills. Head to TheLandscapingSchool.com where you'll find 6 separate courses, as well as a free course in pondless waterfall construction. You can also bundle 4 courses together and only pay for 3 and now I've also added The BIG Bundle, which is all 6 courses for the price of 4! Check it out!

You can follow along with the projects we're currently working on via our Instagram page
@instyle_gardens
@thelandscapingpodcast

You can view each episode on our YouTube channel

In this episode I speak with Julian Ford from Epic Gardener. 

Julian works with his partner in the business where they rescue and transplant advanced feature trees from their Brisbane base, including Grass Trees, Dragon Trees, Palms and Olives, amongst others.

I loved hearing how, even though he's only been in the industry a short time, Julian has an obvious passion for the industry and for the unique trees he moves around.

You can follow Julian on Instagram @the_epicgardener

You can now sign up to The Landscaping School! It's live and ready for you to increase your landscaping skills. Head to TheLandscapingSchool.com where you'll find 6 separate courses, as well as a free course in pondless waterfall construction. You can also bundle 4 courses together and only pay for 3 and now I've also added The BIG Bundle, which is all 6 courses for the price of 4! Check it out!

You can follow along with the projects we're currently working on via our Instagram page
@instyle_gardens
@thelandscapingpodcast

You can view each episode on our YouTube channel

In this episode I speak with Johnny Zambelis from Zambelis Concrete Artistry.

Johnnny is a concreter who does bespoke architectural concrete around Victoria and also runs workshops teaching people to do the same, one of which I'll be attending in November.

I loved hearing how organic it was for Johnny's business to develop, doing a job for one friend, then another, then a friend of a friend and it continued to grow purely based off referrals and Instagram.

He also mentions a great saying he heard from a former employer "Nothing's hard if you know how to do it"

You can follow Johnny on Instagram @zambelisconcreteartistry

You can now sign up to The Landscaping School! It's live and ready for you to increase your landscaping skills. Head to TheLandscapingSchool.com where you'll find 6 separate courses, as well as a free course in pondless waterfall construction. You can also bundle 4 courses together and only pay for 3 and now I've also added The BIG Bundle, which is all 6 courses for the price of 4! Check it out!

You can follow along with the projects we're currently working on via our Instagram page
@instyle_gardens
@thelandscapingpodcast

You can view each episode on our YouTube channel

In this episode I speak with BJ Wallace from Into the Green Podcast, who also is the founder of the Lawn and Land Equip Expo, and green industry expo he started a couple of years ago after the passing of his daughter Ella, to thank the industry for the support his family received after Ella's passing.

I wanted to speak to BJ not only about the expo, which is coming up on the Gold Coast on the 1st of August, but also about the Podcast Royale which he'll be involved in, which is a boxing event full of podcasters.

You can find out about the LLEE event here and you can follow their Instagram page @lawnandlandequipexpo

You can now sign up to The Landscaping School! It's live and ready for you to increase your landscaping skills. Head to TheLandscapingSchool.com where you'll find 6 separate courses, as well as a free course in pondless waterfall construction. You can also bundle 4 courses together and only pay for 3 and now I've also added The BIG Bundle, which is all 6 courses for the price of 4! Check it out!

You can follow along with the projects we're currently working on via our Instagram page
@instyle_gardens
@thelandscapingpodcast

You can view each episode on our YouTube channel

In this episode I answer questions sent in during the week, as well as talk about the upcoming Queensland Garden Show which I'll be attending with The Landscaping School.

You can now sign up to The Landscaping School! It's live and ready for you to increase your landscaping skills. Head to TheLandscapingSchool.com where you'll find 6 separate courses, as well as a free course in pondless waterfall construction. You can also bundle 4 courses together and only pay for 3 and now I've also added The BIG Bundle, which is all 6 courses for the price of 4! Check it out!

You can follow along with the projects we're currently working on via our Instagram page
@instyle_gardens
@thelandscapingpodcast

You can view each episode on our YouTube channel

In this episode I speak with Ben Cottle from Cottle Landscapes, a landscape construction company based in WA.

Ben started out doing his apprenticeship at Exquisite Gardens in Melbourne and stayed there for 12-13 years before moving to WA during Covid and starting Cottle Landscapes.

I found it fascinating talking to him about his experiences in both states, particularly around soils, plant sourcing and building regulations.

You can follow Ben on Instagram @cottlelandscapes

You can now sign up to The Landscaping School! It's live and ready for you to increase your landscaping skills. Head to TheLandscapingSchool.com where you'll find 6 separate courses, as well as a free course in pondless waterfall construction. You can also bundle 4 courses together and only pay for 3 and now I've also added The BIG Bundle, which is all 6 courses for the price of 4! Check it out!

You can follow along with the projects we're currently working on via our Instagram page
@instyle_gardens
@thelandscapingpodcast

You can view each episode on our YouTube channel

In this episode I speak with Natasha Morgan who's a gardener, landscape architect, architect, author educator and more and due to the vast range of roles she does, trades under her name, Natasha Morgan. 

It's quite possibly my favourite episode to date, I could've spoken with her for hours!

We talk about her upcoming book which sounds like a must have to add to your library. There's 400+ pages as well as separate QR codes linked to videos where she's talking with other people within the industry. There's also recipes and an insane amount of information in there.

You can pre-order your copy of the book here It launches on September 15, or September 17 in the UK and September 22 in the USA.

You can follow Natasha on Instagram @natasha_morgan_

You can now sign up to The Landscaping School! It's live and ready for you to increase your landscaping skills. Head to TheLandscapingSchool.com where you'll find 6 separate courses, as well as a free course in pondless waterfall construction. You can also bundle 4 courses together and only pay for 3 and now I've also added The BIG Bundle, which is all 6 courses for the price of 4! Check it out!

You can follow along with the projects we're currently working on via our Instagram page
@instyle_gardens
@thelandscapingpodcast

You can view each episode on our YouTube channel