Afleveringen
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This week on Down the Garden Path, Joanne Shaw speaks with Wildflower Farm's Miriam Goldberger about Eco-Lawn, the answer to a truly low-maintenance lawn, as well as some of her favourite native plants you can include in your garden.
About Miriam Goldberger
Miriam Goldberger is the founder and co-owner of Wildflower Farm, a wildflower seed production company in Ontario — a magical 100 acres where the flower gardens and meadows thrive without pesticides and are a pollinators' paradise. To learn more about Miriam’s journey, visit the Wildflower Farm website.
Here are some of the topics covered in this episode:
Miriam’s book, Taming Wildflowers, was published over 10 years ago. Joanne noted how Miriam has become a pioneer in the industry of native plants and wildflowers. The book contains helpful information about how to grow native plants in specific locations and is available on the Wildflower Farm website. Miriam recommends three of her favourite “polite” wildflowers: Black-eyed Susan, a stable perennial for late-summer/early-fall Gaillardia or blanket flower, a vivid and bright yellow/orange/red colour that will stay in bloom Prairie drop seed, a clump-forming, non-aggressive grass that looks beautiful from late spring right through into the fall. Miriam also discussed Eco-Lawn: Our customers had urged us to develop a lawn that was just as sustainable, drought tolerant and low maintenance as our wildflower gardens and meadows. While walking in the forests of Ontario, we spotted clumps of rich green grass growing in the deep shade of the northern woods. Could these emerald patches be used as natural grass pathways around and through our wildflower meadows? After three years of research and trials later, Eco-Lawn was born. Since its introduction in 1998, it has changed the face of lawnscaping across North America for homeowners, businesses and municipalities. Eco-Lawn combines several native fescues that grow together to create a matte or lawn. The roots are deeper than our Kentucky Bluegrass which makes it much more drought tolerant and can grow under a variety of light conditions. You can start a new lawn with the seed or slowly convert an existing lawn into a low maintenance Eco- lawn. The fall is the best time to start Eco-lawn! Full instructions on how to prepare for applying Eco-lawn are available on their website.You can find Wildflower Farm at www.wildflowerfarm.com.
Find Down the Garden Path on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube: @downthegardenpathpodcast.
Email your questions and comments to [email protected], or connect with Joanne via her website: down2earth.ca
Down the Garden Path PodcastOn Down The Garden Path, professional landscape designer Joanne Shaw discusses 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. She does her best to bring you interesting, relevant and useful topics to help you keep your garden as low maintenance as possible.
In Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden, Joanne and fellow landscape designer Matthew Dressing 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. Get your copy today 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.
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In this episode of Down the Garden Path, Joanne Shaw discusses fall mums and asters.
Topics covered in this week's episode:
Chrysanthemums, many horticultural varieties and cultivars exist including tender florist mums (a favourite because of how long they stay blooming in a vase). Or Garden mums, more commonly known as fall mums. All Chrysanthemums are native to East Asia and northeastern Europe. They became popular in North American gardening during the early to mid-20th century. Overall, fall or autumn gardening in the U.S. became particularly prominent in the 1950s and 1960s. Their popularity grew thanks to their vibrant colours of mums—ranging from deep reds and oranges to yellows and purples—this made them a popular choice for fall displays. Their ability to bloom late into the season and withstand cooler temperatures also contributed to their popularity in autumn gardening. Fall mums grown for our gardens are fertilized and pruned heavily to maintain their dense growth while in containers. It is possible to overwinter them in the garden but without regular maintenance, they can get quite large (tall and wide over a season or two). You often hear of gardeners or articles mentioning mid-summer to cut back or pinch back the foliage on garden mums that are being grown in the garden to slow down their growth and size. If growing in the garden, they benefit from mulching to protect them from the freeze and thaw most of us experience in our Ontario gardens or gardens in zones 4-6. They can be prone to spider mites and aphids as well as powdery mildew. Mildew especially if they are allowed to get large in the garden and then crowd with other plants and especially when there is high humidity and/or overhead watering. The downside of mums: As a designer, my goal is to create gardens that are all season with something happening at all times and for there really not be a need for high-maintenance annuals. I do realize that there are times and places in the yard where one might want a pop of colour -- even me! Potted mums perform much better in cooler temperatures. Unfortunately, garden centres seem to start selling them earlier and earlier each season. They are thirsty plants when in pots, especially in the heat. If the pots aren’t watered regularly they die very quickly and I think homeowners think they can revive them. Once they have dried out, they are a throwaway plant. Don’t get me started on the plastic waste they generate! A better plant option for fall: asters! There are 32 different species of aster in Ontario and over 100 species in North America. There is a place for one in every garden or even a pot if you choose! While some pollinators might visit garden mums for pollen that is where the benefit ends. Asters not only supply pollen for honeybees and native bees, they also feed adult butterflies and we all want more of those in our gardens. They are host plants or over 100 species of caterpillars, nature's bird feeders. Where there are caterpillars, there will be birds! You may be lucky to find New England asters in pots at your big box store. They are transplantable and will overwinter in the garden. In addition to the New England asters, there are several other native varieties that are sold in the perennial section of your garden centres. There is a variety of aster for every garden. New England Asters Symphyotrichum novaeangliae: (purple, light purple) Full to part sun, blooms August to October, moist average soil. Swamp Aster Symphyotrichum puniceum: (purple, light purple) Full to part sun, August to October, wet garden area White Wood Eurybia divaricate: Part shade to full shade, September to October and will grow in a garden from moist to dry. Heart Leaf Aster Symphyotrichum cordifolium: (lavender to light blue) Part shade to full shade, September to October, medium to dry soil Note: It is also recommended to pinch back or cut back asters in June to prevent them from getting too big and floppy. Resources Mentioned in the Show:Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden
Have a topic you'd like me to discuss?Please let me know what other topics you would like me to discuss. Email your questions and comments to [email protected], or connect with me on my website: down2earth.ca Find Down the Garden Path on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube: @downthegardenpathpodcast.
Down the Garden Path PodcastOn Down The Garden Path, professional landscape designer Joanne Shaw discusses 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. She does her best to bring you interesting, relevant and useful topics to help you keep your garden as low maintenance as possible.
In Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden, Joanne and fellow landscape designer Matthew Dressing 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. Get your copy today on Amazon.
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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This week on Down the Garden Path, Joanne Shaw welcomes Jason Hoke to the podcast to discuss IssueID, the revolutionary software solution he co-founded that addresses the challenges in the landscape industry.
About Jason Hoke
Denver native Jason Hoke is an innovative entrepreneur with a diverse career spanning music, landscaping, and technology. At 15, Jason started at A Cut Above Landscape and purchased the company in 2016, growing it to a team of over 30. In 2022, he co-founded IssueID, a revolutionary software solution that simplifies the management of extras and enhancements, helping contractors boost revenue while reducing costs.
Here are some of the topics covered in this episode:
Jason's early start to the landscape industry, what made him stay and buy the company. What Jason loves about landscaping. The services available at A Cut Above Landscape How Jason's music experience ties in. What parallels can be drawn between the music and trades industry? Jason's journey to creating IssueID. How IssueID helps capture, collaborate and close more projects.Where to find IssuedID:
www.issueid.io Facebook YouTube Instagram LinkedInFind Down the Garden Path on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube: @downthegardenpathpodcast.
You can also email your questions and comments to [email protected], or connect with Joanne via her website: down2earth.ca
Down the Garden Path PodcastOn Down The Garden Path, professional landscape designer Joanne Shaw discusses 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. She does her best to bring you interesting, relevant and useful topics to help you keep your garden as low maintenance as possible.
In Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden, Joanne and fellow landscape designer Matthew Dressing 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. Get your copy today 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.
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In this episode of Down the Garden Path, Joanne Shaw discusses some of the issues you may be experiencing with your hydrangeas this month and what you can do about them.
Topics covered in this week's episode:
Hydrangeas not blooming
Know what variety is especially important with this issue. In Joanne's experience, if you have a nice large green bush but no or few flowers then you have a Macrophylla variety They bloom on old wood that is unfortunately susceptible to late spring frost damage. The buds form on the old wood in early spring and then a late frost comes and kills the bud. The plant still grows nice and lush, and you don’t know anything is wrong until it doesn’t flower. Extra water and fertilizer provide a nice full-leaved plant but no blooms I have tried all the techniques to try and prevent this and protect the plant, but I gave up and replaced it with a hardier variety. If you are in an area where you often get a late frost after a nice warm-up, then consider swapping to another variety Hydrangeas discussed: Macrophylla Paniculata Quercifolia Serrata Arborescence Which hydrangeas grow on old or new woodHydrangeas getting too large/floppy
The preferred pruning practices to mitigate that Smaller variety recommendations of each type to have a hydrangea that stays smaller: Munchkin Oakleaf Hydrangea Invincibelle Wee White Hydrangea Invincibelle Limetta Little Lime or Bobo Hydrangeas All are a great way to have more hydrangeas in a smaller space Related Episodes/Resources Mentioned in the Show:Tips To Extend The Blooming Season Of Your Endless Summer Hydrangea
Hydrangeas
Hydrangeas Part One
Hydrangeas Part Two
BLOG POST -- Hydrangeas: When They Don’t Work And What You Can Do About It
Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden
Have a topic you'd like me to discuss?Please let me know what other topics you would like me to discuss.
Email your questions and comments to [email protected], or connect with me on my website: down2earth.ca
Find Down the Garden Path on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube: @downthegardenpathpodcast.
Down the Garden Path PodcastOn Down The Garden Path, professional landscape designer Joanne Shaw discusses 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. She does her best to bring you interesting, relevant and useful topics to help you keep your garden as low maintenance as possible.
In Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden, Joanne and fellow landscape designer Matthew Dressing 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. Get your copy today 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.
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In this encore presentation of Down the Garden Path, landscape designers Joanne Shaw and Matthew Dressing answer listener questions about the seasonal stressors we're experiencing in our gardens this month.
Here are some of the questions and topics covered in this episode:
Is it one or two inches of water every week for our lawns? What about in this drought here in the GTA? More water? Reminder to water newly planted trees. Using water timers on hoses to help with watering. Any tips for choosing an apple tree for my yard? How do we apply nematodes? When's the best time? Watering for a week at night for nematodes: won't that do the damage you talk about for our lawn? Is fall a good time to plant? Growing an aloe plant Resources mentioned during the showSuzanne Poizner's Urban Forestry Show on RealityRadio101.com.
Applying Nematodes
About the podcast:Find Down the Garden Path on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube: @downthegardenpathpodcast.
You can also email your questions and comments to [email protected], or connect with Joanne and Matthew via their websites:
Joanne Shaw: down2earth.ca
Matthew Dressing: naturalaffinity.ca
Down the Garden Path PodcastOn Down The Garden Path, professional landscape designer Joanne Shaw discusses 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. She does her best to bring you interesting, relevant and useful topics to help you keep your garden as low maintenance as possible.
In Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden, Joanne and fellow landscape designer Matthew Dressing distill their horticultural and design expertise and combined experiences in helping others create and maintain thriving gardens into one easy-to-read monthly reference guide.
Get your copy today 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.
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In this encore presentation of Down the Garden Path, landscape designers Joanne Shaw and Matthew Dressing discuss applying nematodes, the primary method homeowners in Canada use to control pests such as grubs on our lawns.
It’s been a heavy Japanese beetle season in the Greater Toronto Area, with a lot of damage done to the foliage of our trees and shrubs. As the hot days of summer come to an end, so will they!
However, where there are Japanese beetles, there are white grubs. And right now, those white grubs are beginning to hatch and eat our lawns, growing and becoming next summer’s Japanese beetles. So, what can we do? This is where applying nematodes comes in.
Nematodes are microscopic, colourless worms that travel through water in the ground to attack and kill grubs and other pests. If you want them to work, you have to water your lawn well. They don’t bother humans, pets, or plants but will attack various soil-borne pests instead. When nematodes find a host they want to eat, they work their way inside them, consuming their host using powerful bacteria. A single nematode can kill a pest in 24-48 hours, making them a quick and efficient solution to infestations. We discuss what nematodes are, how they work and the best practices for applying them.If you've been seeing the effects of Japanese beetles in your garden this summer, you won't want to miss this podcast. We offer lots of great tips to help your garden and lawn thrive into the fall and prepare it for success in the spring.
Where to find us:Find Down the Garden Path on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube: @downthegardenpathpodcast.
You can also email your questions and comments to [email protected], or connect with Joanne and Matthew via their websites:
Joanne Shaw: down2earth.ca
Matthew Dressing: naturalaffinity.ca
Other helpful resources:Applying Nematodes (blog post)
Seasonal Stressors
August in the Garden
Down the Garden Path PodcastOn Down The Garden Path, professional landscape designer Joanne Shaw discusses 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. She does her best to bring you interesting, relevant and useful topics to help you keep your garden as low maintenance as possible.
In Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden, Joanne and fellow landscape designer Matthew Dressing 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. Get your copy today 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.
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In this encore presentation of Down the Garden Path, Joanne Shaw and Matthew Dressing show you how to keep your garden and landscape thriving during the August heat with tips and tricks and do’s and don'ts for your August garden.
Tune in to hear Joanne and Matt discuss what you should (and shouldn't) be doing in the garden in August.Here are some of the questions and topics covered in this episode:
Plan what fall bulbs you’d like to plant for your spring garden. Order now and buy early for the best varieties. Source garlic bulbs from a local farmer or reputable seed company to have them ready for fall planting. To encourage flavourful new growth, continue to trim herbs like mint, chives, dill, etc. Cover ripening fruit to protect from birds and critters. Sow seeds of beans, beets, spinach, and turnips for a fall harvest. Check fruits, vegetables, annuals, perennials, trees, and shrubs for pests and diseases and remove as necessary. Use Japanese beetle traps to control populations. Remember, one is enough for urban landscapes. Apply nematodes in mid-August, or sooner, to control white grub populations in the lawn. Continue to deadhead annuals and perennials to promote new blooms. Continue fertilizing containers, window boxes, and hanging baskets with a water-soluble fertilizer once every two weeks until Thanksgiving or you dispose of them for the season. Apply a new layer of rich compost to garden beds. Continue to weed your lawns and hardscapes. Remove small errant shoots from topiaries, shrubs, and hedges.Find Down the Garden Path on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube: @downthegardenpathpodcast.
You can also email your questions and comments to [email protected], or connect with Joanne and Matthew via their websites:
Joanne Shaw: down2earth.ca
Matthew Dressing: naturalaffinity.ca
Resources mentioned during the showDown the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden
Down the Garden Path PodcastOn Down The Garden Path, professional landscape designer Joanne Shaw discusses 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. She does her best to bring you interesting, relevant and useful topics to help you keep your garden as low maintenance as possible.
In Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden, Joanne and fellow landscape designer Matthew Dressing 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. Get your copy today 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.
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In this episode of Down the Garden Path podcast, landscape designer Joanne Shaw discusses the importance of succession planting so that you always have something blooming in your perennial garden. That is the gardening addiction, after all!
Topics covered in this week's episode:
The best way to "deadhead" a perennial Popular garden perennials that when trimmed back at the right time should provide another flowering or can help the plant continue to flower Some of the plants mentioned: Salvia, Catmint, Dianthus or Pinks, Lavender and Plhlox for the sunny garden Columbine, hostas and ferns for the shade garden This episode is brought to you by:Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden
Have a topic you'd like me to cover?Please let me know what other topics you would like me to discuss. Join the Down the Garden Path Podcast Facebook group, where you can share pictures of gardening dilemmas or ask questions! You can also email your questions and comments to [email protected], or connect with me on my website: down2earth.ca Find Down the Garden Path on Instagram and YouTube: @downthegardenpathpodcast.
Down the Garden Path PodcastOn Down The Garden Path, professional landscape designer Joanne Shaw discusses 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. She does her best to bring you interesting, relevant and useful topics to help you keep your garden as low maintenance as possible.
In Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden, Joanne and fellow landscape designer Matthew Dressing 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. Get your copy today 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.
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In this solo episode of Down the Garden Path podcast, landscape designer Joanne Shaw offers mid-season advice for your lawn and garden.
Topics covered in this week's episode:
YES… you can still plant this summer. You do not need to wait until Fall.
Summer is always a good time to pick up a good sale on plants, just check that the roots are healthy. The roots are the most important thing to look at in mid-summer, especially on discounted plant material. It may not do much this year, but it will be even better next year. Tree and shrub planting is fine, but you need to be around home to water in case of drought. If you are away for a few days that is fine, consider a tree watering bag for trees or even timers for sprinklers. The important thing is to be around to keep an eye on your newly planted trees. Also, remember the sign of too much water is the same as not enough. So check the soil deeply if your plant appears to be struggling.Mid-summer is Japanese beetle season.
I want to reassure you that Japanese Beetle traps work, according to instructions. Read the instructions. Place the trap far away from the garden and plants (including your neighbours’ plants) Communicate with your close neighbours; you don’t all need a trap. Follow the distance guidelines in the instructions and you will be fine. The key is to capture as many as possible before they lay their eggs in your lawn, which turn into grubs.Native Plants
There’s so much talk about native plants and only using them in your garden. If it is overwhelming, don’t worry. There are a lot of non-native plants that pollinators love. There is no need to remove plants or shrubs to add native plants -- unless you have invasive plants, or you want to. I suggest a few mid-season native bloomers that can be added now. Many native plants are spring or fall bloomers and many can become invasive or spreaders, so keep that in mind when choosing them. Removing seed heads will help with their spread.Mid-summer is also crabgrass season.
It is important to pull it out before it goes to seed. Try not to cut grass when it has gone to seed because that spreads the seed to create more weeds for next year. If you have a large lawn and or a large amount of crabgrass, consider bagging your grass for the rest of the season to try to prevent as many weeds as possible for next year. Resources mentioned during the show:Permeable Landscaping Products with David Maxwell from Romex
Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden
Have a topic you'd like me to discuss?Please reach out and let me know what other topics you would like me to discuss. Email your questions and comments to [email protected], or connect with me on my website: down2earth.ca
Find Down the Garden Path on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube: @downthegardenpathpodcast.
Down the Garden Path PodcastOn Down The Garden Path, professional landscape designer Joanne Shaw discusses 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. She does her best to bring you interesting, relevant and useful topics to help you keep your garden as low maintenance as possible.
In Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden, Joanne and fellow landscape designer Matthew Dressing 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. Get your copy today 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.
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This week on Down the Garden Path, Joanne Shaw welcomes David Maxwell from Romex Canada to discuss their line of permeable landscaping products.
About David Maxwell
David Maxwell has been in sales since he graduated from Mount Allison. With over 10 years of experience in construction sales, he has a strong knowledge in the landscaping construction side with experience in green roofs and hardscapes.
ROMEX North America is the exclusive supplier of the German-engineered ROMEX hardscape solutions product line throughout North America. They provide not only the products but expert advice, planning, estimates, installer training, and world-class customer service.
Here are some of the topics covered in this episode:
The term “permeable” and what it will mean going forward in the landscape industry. The exact definition is “a material or membrane” allowing liquids or gases to pass through it. Note that permeable pavers do not mean that the actual paver is permeable; it means the patio or walkway is installed to be permeable with a proper base and joint sand. Joint sand: David discussed the differences between non-permeable and permeable applications for interlocking. The benefits and importance of managing the water as water is truly what causes installations to fail. Currently, polymeric sand is used in most standard landscape installations. Polymeric sand is engineered with an adhesive binding agent that is activated upon getting wet. The sand is swept into the joints, making sure the joints are full and then the interlocking is watered well to activate the hardening process. It turns into a grout or concrete-like material. This also means that once dry, water will not penetrate the joints and therefore the interlocking is not permeable. David explains the German technology behind Romex A resin sand is permeable vs. a polymeric sand that is not. How is it different/unique? It hardens to prevent weeds and ants but is still allows for the water to flow through it for better drainage. As cities and municipalities continue to look for solutions to manage water in private and public installations, permeability will become a big factor. Proper installation? How do homeowners make sure? Like all products, contractors must follow current practices to create a proper base for the interlocking and the sand that goes between the pavers. Dave reminds homeowners and contractors that there are a lot of resources on the Romex website A Romex rep can help contractors with training and instructions on how to use the product. It has a 10-year warranty when the proper steps have been followed. Contractors need to register their project with Romex and have their base verified. What other products are available? Romex also has a permeable gravel binding product available. Once applied, it binds small particle aggregates together for a sold smooth surface but still allows for drainage. Can homeowners install these products themselves? Some of their premixed products are easier for homeowners to install themselves. Check out the Romex website for more information. Romex stresses the importance of working with water, not against it!Where you can find Romex Canada:
www.romexcanada.com Facebook YouTube Instagram LinkedInFind Down the Garden Path on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube: @downthegardenpathpodcast.
You can also email your questions and comments to [email protected], or connect with Joanne via her website: down2earth.ca
Down the Garden Path PodcastOn Down The Garden Path, professional landscape designer Joanne Shaw discusses 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. She does her best to bring you interesting, relevant and useful topics to help you keep your garden as low maintenance as possible.
In Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden, Joanne and fellow landscape designer Matthew Dressing 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. Get your copy today on Amazon.
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In this encore presentation of Down the Garden Path, Joanne Shaw and Matthew Dressing show you how to keep your garden and landscape cool and colourful in the summer heat with tips and tricks and do’s and don'ts for your July garden.
Here are some of the questions and topics covered in this episode:
Pros and cons of the recent hard fast rain and things to consider with your garden and containers. Lawns The importance of watering deeply but less frequently The best type of fertilizer for your lawn situation The best time to fertilize Staying on top of weeds Perennials/Annuals in the Garden Deadhead perennials to clean up or encourage new growth It may be time to clean up your annual containers and replace individual plants if they are dead or it's a poor-growing one. Make sure the annual containers are not being over under or overwatered Time to fertilize containers as well Shrubs: Pruning spring bloomers after flowering Trees: Fertilizing shrubs and trees, the best timing depending on the weather. Best ways to deep-water trees; do not rely on rain only Matthew and Joanne’s vegetable gardenFind Down the Garden Path on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube: @downthegardenpathpodcast. You can also email your questions and comments to [email protected], or connect with Joanne via her website: down2earth.ca
Down the Garden Path PodcastOn Down The Garden Path, professional landscape designer Joanne Shaw discusses 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. She does her best to bring you interesting, relevant and useful topics to help you keep your garden as low maintenance as possible.
In Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden, Joanne and fellow landscape designer Matthew Dressing 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. Get your copy today on Amazon.
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In this encore presentation of Down the Garden Path, Joanne Shaw and Matthew Dressing discuss how to design with native plants and strike a balance in your garden between natives and the foreign ornamentals we love so much.
When people think about native plants, they often think of a wild meadow or an unkept urban lot. But natives offer many design opportunities and benefits to our gardens and landscapes.
Here are some of the questions and topics covered in this episode:
How do you define native? Where to look for native plants? How should I start going about designing with native plants? Using nativars. “Hedges make edges.” Resources mentioned during the showDown the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden
Find Down the Garden Path on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube: @downthegardenpathpodcast. You can also email your questions and comments to [email protected], or connect with Joanne via her website: down2earth.ca
Down the Garden Path PodcastOn Down The Garden Path, professional landscape designer Joanne Shaw discusses 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. She does her best to bring you interesting, relevant and useful topics to help you keep your garden as low maintenance as possible.
In Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden, Joanne and fellow landscape designer Matthew Dressing 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. Get your copy today on Amazon.
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AI has moved into the world of gardening! In this encore presentation of Down the Garden Path podcast, Joanne Shaw and Matthew Dressing speak with Dale and Carrie Spoonemore, creators of the new garden AI app, Seed to Spoon.
Here are some of the questions and topics covered in this episode:
Why did you decide to create this app? Where does the gardening information come from? Who is this app geared towards? Is it North-America based only? Can users customize their profiles so the app remembers their location? How does it differ from Google search?Find From Seed to Spoon online:
www.seedtospoon.net Facebook: @seed2spoon Instagram: @FromSeedtoSpoon YouTube: @FromSeedtoSpoon Tiktok: @seed2spoon Pinterest: @fromseedtospoon Twitter: @fromseedtospoonFind Down the Garden Path on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube: @downthegardenpathpodcast. You can also email your questions and comments to [email protected], or connect with Joanne via her website: down2earth.ca
Down the Garden Path PodcastOn Down The Garden Path, professional landscape designer Joanne Shaw discusses 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. She does her best to bring you interesting, relevant and useful topics to help you keep your garden as low maintenance as possible.
In Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden, Joanne and fellow landscape designer Matthew Dressing 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. Get your copy today on Amazon.
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In this encore presentation of Down the Garden Path, Joanne Shaw welcomes Tom Watson from BOLD to discuss landscape lightning.
About Tom Watson
Tom Watson is a Senior Business Development Manager with BOLD (Best Outdoor Living Design), focusing on his territory in Central Ontario. After working in business operations for over nine years, leveraging cutting-edge technologies for strategic growth and process improvement, Tom entered the outdoor lighting industry.
Here are some of the questions and topics covered in this episode:
Tell us more about BOLD, the new industry-leading landscape lighting company Landscape lighting is so important, why do you think it can sometimes be forgotten? We forget about evenings at times during the landscape planning process. Now that many want to use their outdoor spaces, people are realizing the importance of lighting the space. New landscape lighting can be added to existing landscapes. The impact is immediate when homeowners can now use their outdoor spaces in the evening and entertain longer on the weekends. Mature plants and gardens look beautiful when highlighted with proper low-voltage lighting. Tom refers to this as painting with light! BOLD lights are CRI 90 or above. Sunlight is 100. They come with a 7-year warranty. Are you seeing new trends in landscape lighting? Black is still the most popular fixture colour. New shape is a reflection of some new shapes in the interlocking industry Smart technology is also popular. Products can be set up and managed through Google Home, Alexa etc. Where can contractors' homeowners see BOLD products? Products are available at landscaping dealers. oDisplays will be there for people wh want to see them in person. BOLD is currently offering Mini Acadamy training to landscapers and designers.Find more information about BOLD:
Website: www.boldpros.com Instagram: @boldpros @boldpros_tom Facebook: @boldprosFind Down the Garden Path on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube: @downthegardenpathpodcast.
You can also email your questions and comments to [email protected], or connect with Joanne via her website: down2earth.ca
Down the Garden Path PodcastOn Down The Garden Path, professional landscape designer Joanne Shaw discusses 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. She does her best to bring you interesting, relevant and useful topics to help you keep your garden as low maintenance as possible.
In Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden, Joanne and fellow landscape designer Matthew Dressing 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. Get your copy today on Amazon.
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In this episode of Down the Garden Path, Joanne Shaw welcomes Carla Bailey to discuss Women in Landscaping, a supportive community for green professionals that encourages women to enter the profession.
About Carla Bailey An HR professional for over a decade, Carla Bailey honed her expertise working for a leading landscaping company in London, Ontario. Dedicated to creating a positive work environment and resolving employee matters, her commitment to staff growth led her to discover and implement various government initiatives to support employee development.
In 2018, Carla and three other green professionals founded Women In Landscaping to introduce women to green professions and provide a community to help them thrive.
Here are some of the questions and topics covered in this episode:
What led to the creation of Women in Landscaping (WIL)? Business support for women in the Landscaping industry with a variety of issues in addition to business development When was WIL started? The group started in the greater London area in 2018. It grew quickly until the pandemic hit. They held their numbers steady and registered as a non-profit in 2024. How often does WIL meet? WIL currently holds monthly drop-ins on the fourth Thursday of the month across the province. Approximately 10-20 women attend, ranging from new to the industry to 30-year business owners to women going through career changes. 100,000 jobs in the trade in Ontario, with 25,000 vacancies. Still less than 30% are filled by women. This demonstrates that the industries have not been successful on their own in attracting women into the landscaping industry. In 2023, WIL hosted the Touch-a-Truck event to promote awareness of women working in green professions, and 3,300 people turned up! WIL has five Touch-a-Truck events planned for July 20th this year and another for September. WIL has partnered with Landscape Ontario They will be hosting a Women in Landscaping Luncheon at the Landscape Ontario Congress in January 2025.You can find Women in Landscaping on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.
Find Down the Garden Path on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube: @downthegardenpathpodcast.
You can also email your questions and comments to [email protected], or connect with Joanne via her website: down2earth.ca
Down the Garden Path PodcastOn Down The Garden Path, professional landscape designer Joanne Shaw discusses 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. She does her best to bring you interesting, relevant and useful topics to help you keep your garden as low maintenance as possible.
In Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden, Joanne and fellow landscape designer Matthew Dressing 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. Get your copy today on Amazon.
You can now catch the podcast on YouTube.
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This week on Down the Garden Path, Joanne Shaw welcomes Natalie Green from DynaScape Software to discuss their newest product, Creator.
About Natalie Green
Natalie is the Director of Product Development at DynaScape, working to understand the needs of landscape designers and build easy-to-use, modern solutions to efficiently create beautiful, functional, accurate plans for outdoor spaces.
DynaScape builds landscape software specifically for the landscaping industry. They are committed to developing tailor-made solutions for landscape professionals and continue to expand the products and services they offer to empower landscape professionals with the best design and management platform.
Here are some of the topics covered in this episode:
The history of Dynascape design software and how it works for the landscape design industry Natalie also highlighted some of the limitations These limitations and the importance of staying ahead of technology, especially the technology of computer hardware, have led to the development of a new product for Dynascape called Creator. The future of DynaScape Creator How much more flexible it is being a web-based product A two-week trial of Creator is available on their website if you are interested in giving it a try Natalie emphasized that there was no such thing as too much feedback! Be sure you share your likes and dislikes A Dynascape Design and Design Colour update is coming in June 2024. Joanne shared with Natalie how much she appreciated the training and technical support that Dynascape offers. It helps designers manage deadlines knowing Dynascape is there and very responsiveWhere you can find DynaScape:
www.dynascape.com Get a free two-week trial of DynaScape Creator Facebook YouTube Instagram LinkedIn (DynsaScape) LinkedIn (Natalie Green)Find Down the Garden Path on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube: @downthegardenpathpodcast. You can also email your questions and comments to [email protected], or connect with Joanne via her website: down2earth.ca
Down the Garden Path PodcastOn Down The Garden Path, professional landscape designer Joanne Shaw discusses 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. She does her best to bring you interesting, relevant and useful topics to help you keep your garden as low maintenance as possible. In Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden, Joanne and fellow landscape designer Matthew Dressing 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. Get your copy today on Amazon.
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This solo episode of Down the Garden Path is a bit of a rant!
Recently, I heard landscape design referred to as a luxury product, giving the illusion that only the wealthy need one. I disagree.
Despite the initial investment, I believe landscape design will save you money in both the short and the long run. And I am confident that after working with a landscape designer, your project will be even more successful.
Luxury or necessity? Tune in to hear Joanne discuss landscape design.Things to consider:
Your landscaping project most likely contains hardscaping (patio, walkway, garden walls) and softscaping elements (gardens, trees) and having both of these addressed from the start is crucial to a successful project.
In my opinion, no one should treat the softscaping as an afterthought and try to “fill” it in after the hardscaping features are completed.
Here’s a good example that I share in this episode:
A 2.5-foot-deep garden was left at the side of a pool for the large trees the pool clients wanted for privacy after the pool was installed. These clients called me for a planting plan to recommend the appropriate trees. Unfortunately, large trees have root balls that are 3-4 feet wide. There was no way the clients could get anything but small trees.
If a design had been done at the start of the project, the trees would have been put in earlier and the patio would have allowed for them, or the pool location would have been adjusted.
Landscape designers, like interior designers, view the big picture and look at things from different perspectives. We consider things like the views from the windows, especially the kitchen sink. Our drawings are to scale, allowing you to visualize your outdoor living space to ensure that the patio will fit your table or your new furniture set.
We are also aware of how things grow. We have seen the home where a tree was planted in the “wrong” spot. Too close to a walkway, too close to the back gate so that it limits access, etc.
There have been so many times that I have been called in to help clients “after the fact,” and they all say, I wish we had a design to begin with.
I firmly believe that having a landscape design that you approve ahead of time will help you spend your money wisely on the things that matter and ensure that your project is exactly what you want when it is complete.
Look for Down the Garden Path on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube: @downthegardenpathpodcast.
You can also email your questions and comments to [email protected], or connect with Joanne via her website: down2earth.ca
Down the Garden Path PodcastOn Down The Garden Path, professional landscape designer Joanne Shaw discusses 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. She does her best to bring you interesting, relevant and useful topics to help you keep your garden as low maintenance as possible.
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This week on Down the Garden Path, Joanne Shaw welcomes author Alan Heeks to the podcast to discuss his self-help book, Natural Happiness: Use Organic Gardening Skills to Cultivate Yourself.
About Alan Heeks
Alan Heeks is an inspiring guide to helping people cultivate their well-being through parallels with Nature. After a Harvard MBA and a successful career managing building materials businesses, Alan has spent 30 years creating nature-based learning venues, and leading groups there. In 1990, he started Magdalen Environmental Trust, converting 130 acres to a mixed organic farm. Since 1992 he has created Hazel Hill Wood as a 70-acre conservation wood and retreat centre. Alan has led many workshops with his Seven Seeds of Natural Happiness approach, including individuals, community groups, and NHS doctors.
Here are some of the topics covered in this episode:
Natural Happiness can help you dig deep and stay cheerful in these stormy times. It shows how you can use gardening methods such as composting, mulching, and crop rotation to cultivate human nature, too. A gardener applies skills like observation, patience and creativity, and you can adapt them to deal with daily stresses and big issues such as climate change. Alan's approach is positive and practical, easy to use for gardeners and others. On the podcast and on YouTube, they talked about the interesting and practical exercises sprinkled throughout the book The Nourish Your Roots exercise suggests trying Tree Talk. Imagine yourself as a tree and consider whether all parts of you are in balance. The roots, the trunk and your branches. It is a practical and helpful exercise, especially when it encourages us to do some pruning! Another self-help “quickie” we discussed was how we handle compaction in our lives. Alan related it to the soil in a garden, which for gardeners is a very clear analogy. If our soil has good structure and is permeable then the air, heat, water, and nutrients can get in. The opposite is compaction. Many of us know how to handle compaction in the garden more than we know how to handle it in our lives. This book is full of these practical and thought-provoking exercises. With such chapters as "Use Natural Energy Sources," "Compost Your Troubles," "Cultivating Community" and "Growing Through Climate Change," you are in for a wonderful helpful book even if you are not a gardener. This book also inspires the child in all of us who remember drawing trees, climbing trees and playing outside. Whatever you might have going on in your life, Natural Happiness: Use Organic Gardening Skiles to Cultivate Yourself would be a wonderful addition to your bookshelf.Where you can find Alan Heeks:
Website: www.naturalhappiness.net Buy his book here. Sign up for Alan's free newsletter here.Find Down the Garden Path on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube: @downthegardenpathpodcast. You can also email your questions and comments to [email protected], or connect with Joanne via her website: down2earth.ca
Down the Garden Path PodcastOn Down The Garden Path, professional landscape designer Joanne Shaw discusses 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. She does her best to bring you interesting, relevant and useful topics to help you keep your garden as low maintenance as possible.
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This week on Down the Garden Path, Joanne Shaw welcomes author Mariam Pirbhai to the podcast to discuss her creative nonfiction book, Garden Inventories: Reflections on Land, Place and Belonging.
About Mariam Pirbhai
Mariam was born in Pakistan and lived in England, the United Arab Emirates and the Philippines before her family immigrated to Canada in the late 1980s. She completed her Ph.D. in English at the University of Montreal and received the Governor General’s Gold Medal. Mariam lives and works in Waterloo, where she enjoys photographing and painting the natural landscapes of southwestern Ontario. An English professor at Wilfrid Laurier University, Mariam also wrote the award-winning short story collection Outside People and Other Stories, and the novel titled Isolated Incident.
Here are some of the topics we covered in this episode:
Her journey through the landscapes of her life on her way to her current home How her travels in the past shaped the gardener she is now Her innate understanding of gardening meant that trees in the garden should produce fruit How her search for a fruiting mulberry tree proved challenging How the increased time spent in nature during the pandemic made her more aware of the plants in nature versus what we historically have been cultivating in our gardens Her deep dive into invasive plants What belongs and doesn’t belong in the garden The removal of a large amount of Buckthorn trees from the property How it opened up a new area for her garden to expandWhere you can find Mariam Pirbhai:
Website: www.mariampirbhai.ca Instagram: @mariampirbhai Facebook: Mariam PirbhaiFind Down the Garden Path on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube: @downthegardenpathpodcast. You can also email your questions and comments to [email protected], or connect with Joanne via her website: down2earth.ca
Down the Garden Path PodcastOn Down The Garden Path, professional landscape designer Joanne Shaw discusses 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. She does her best to bring you interesting, relevant and useful topics to help you keep your garden as low maintenance as possible.
In Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden, Joanne and fellow landscape designer Matthew Dressing 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. Get your copy today 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.
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This week on Down the Garden Path, Joanne Shaw welcomes Julia Dimakos back to the podcast to discuss growing tomatoes. From starting tomatoes from seed to transplanting the seedlings into the garden, Julia shares her tried-and-true tricks to growing them successfully from seed.
About Julia Dimakos
Julia Dimakos’ 7000 square foot kitchen garden is in Mono, Ontario, on 25 acres on the Niagara Escarpment. Julia has been growing vegetables and writing about gardening for over 13 years. She was twice published in Canadian Organic Grower magazine and became a published author in July 2022 with her first book, Tea Gardening for Beginners.
Here are some of the questions and topics covered in this episode:
How to start tomato seeds and the type of pots to use It's not too late during this first week of May to start as the seedlings are quite tough. You can put many seeds in a container: as they grow, they are easy to separate from the roots. The difference between determinate and indeterminate tomatoes It is important to know what variety you can and want to grow so you know how to support the plant in the garden appropriately. Spoiler alert: indeterminate tomatoes need support in the form of very TALL stakes! Julia shares some great tips on fertilizer and watering The importance of watering to avoid blossom end rot on your tomatoes Tune in and then go buy some seeds of an unusual variety of tomatoes!Click here to watch this episode on YouTube!
Where you can find Julia Dimakos:
Website: www.juliadimakos.com Instagram: @juliadimakos YouTube: @gardeninggirlFind Down the Garden Path on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube: @downthegardenpathpodcast. You can also email your questions and comments to [email protected], or connect with Joanne via her website: down2earth.ca
Down the Garden Path PodcastOn Down The Garden Path, professional landscape designer Joanne Shaw discusses 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. She does her best to bring you interesting, relevant and useful topics to help you keep your garden as low maintenance as possible.
In Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden, Joanne and fellow landscape designer Matthew Dressing 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. Get your copy today 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.
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