Preview Mode Links will not work in preview mode

On the Down the Garden Path Radio Show and Podcast, landscape designers Joanne Shaw and Matthew Dressing discuss down-to-earth tips and advice for your plants, gardens, and landscapes.

Joanne and Matthew believe it's important and possible to have great gardens that are low maintenance.

Each week, they educate their listeners on how to seasonally manage their gardens and landscapes. Joanne and Matt learn right along with their listeners, from each other, from their research, and from the many guests who join them on their show. 

Listen live at www.realityradio101.com on Monday’s at 7 pm ET or subscribe to download this show and past episodes from your favourite podcast app. 

Check out the website for even more garden tips and tricks.

May 16, 2023

In this encore episode of Down the Garden Path, Joanne Shaw and Matthew Dressing wrap up their month-long discussion about shrubs with a look at nativars.

Here are some of the topics covered in this episode:

  • What is a nativar?
  • How are nativars produced?
  • Substantial differences between cultivars and nativars and what to avoid:
    • Some attract and sustain the same populations as their native parent
    • Others do not attract as many pollinators as their native parent.
    • Some nativars do not have the same quantity or quality of pollen and nectar resources.
    • Avoid nativars whose leaf colour is different than its parent.
  • Reasons for planting as close to the native species as possible.
  • Some popular North American nativars you might find in your local garden center.

Down the Garden Path Podcast

Each week on Down The Garden Path, professional landscape designers Joanne Shaw and Matthew Dressing discuss 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. A horticulturist and landscape designer, Matthew Dressing owns Natural Affinity Garden Design, a landscape design and garden maintenance firm servicing Toronto and the Eastern GTA. Together, they do their best to bring you interesting, relevant and useful topics to help you keep your garden as low maintenance as possible.

In their new book, Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden, Joanne and Matthew 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. It's now available 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 and Patreon.