The joe gardener Show

How do you define a beautiful garden or landscape? Is it a perfectly manicured space, free of weeds with coordinated blocks of color? Perhaps it’s more relaxed and informal. In this episode, we focus our discussion around native plant design in a post-wild world with Thomas Rainer, author, teacher, and landscape architect. Thomas describes his vision for a garden that is a hybrid of both cultivated design and the wildness of nature. We talk about how we can create a natural garden design...

In spite of a very short growing season (the first frost of the year shows up about mid-October, and the last is typically mid-May), Niki Jabbour knows every trick in the book and more to get the most out of her year-round garden. From time tested winners including row covers and cold frames, to her newest addition, a large polytunnel/greenhouse located adjacent to large raised bed vegetable garden. This podcast is an encore edition of our original podcast episode 022 and conversation with...

Over the years I’ve tried my share of gardening tools. Along the way, I’ve spent (and wasted) a lot of money. But it hasn’t been a total loss. Some of those purchases have resulted in the tools I can’t live without, including what I consider my top 12 tools to make your gardening life easier too.

I love starting seeds indoors. It’s a great way to get a jump start on the season - to play in the soil even when the temperatures outdoors are sub-freezing. Growing seedlings indoors can be a little tricky though. Plus, those seed trays take up space that not all homeowners are fortunate to have. It was space limitations which led one gardener to get creative and find a different solution. Her approach is the subject of today’s podcast - winter sowing; a simple way to successfully start...

This week is part two of my conversation with Charles Fishman, author of the compelling book, The Big Thirst. He's a powerhouse of fascinating facts about our planet's water - including some thought-provoking details on our infrastructure and our water spending. Now may be just the time we should be reshaping how we think about water and why paying more might not be so bad. Is the price of water simply so cheap that we take it for granted?

Today’s podcast is just a little bit off-topic. Well, not too far off-topic. After all, the subject of today’s discussion is fundamental to our gardens. It’s fundamental to our very existence. Today, we’re talking about water. More specifically, can we, and how are we conserving water’s finite supply in a very thirsty world? How often […] The post 128-Conserving Water’s Finite Supply in a Very Thirsty World appeared first on joe gardener® | Organic Gardening Like a Pro.

Today’s podcast is just a little bit off-topic. Well, not too far off-topic. After all, the subject of today’s discussion is fundamental to our gardens. It’s fundamental to our very existence. Today, we’re talking about water. More specifically, can we, and how are we conserving water's finite supply in a very thirsty world? My guest today, Charles Fishman, believes that many of our modern-day water issues are due to our collective lack of thinking about it.

This summer, the crew and I wrapped up filming for the tenth season of our Emmy Award-winning show, Growing a Greener World®. It has been humbling to look back and really let it sink in that we’ve been creating these episodes for an entire decade. Not many shows last so long these days. Along the […] The post 127-Top Takeaways for Gardeners from 10 Years of Growing a Greener World appeared first on joe gardener® | Organic Gardening Like a Pro.

This summer, the crew and I wrapped up filming for the tenth season of our Emmy Award-winning show, Growing a Greener World®. It has been humbling to look back and really let it sink in that we’ve been creating these episodes for an entire decade. Not many shows last so long these days. Along the way, we’ve met some remarkable people and featured some important issues. So today, I thought I would share with you my top takeaways for gardeners from over the years.

What do you think of when you think about your garden? How often do you consider all of the fragrances of the plants in your landscape? Well, this week’s podcast is a celebration of the scentual garden; exploring botanical fragrance, with Ken Druse. Whether subtle or spectacular, plants can emanate fragrance from, not only their […] The post 126-The Scentual Garden: Exploring Botanical Fragrance With Ken Druse appeared first on joe gardener® | Organic Gardening Like a Pro.

What do you think of when you think about your garden? How often do you consider all of the fragrances of the plants in your landscape? Well, this week’s podcast is a celebration of the scentual garden; exploring botanical fragrance, with Ken Druse. Whether subtle or spectacular, plants can emanate fragrance from, not only their blooms, but from foliage and even stems too.

Do you save seeds? These days, more and more gardeners are interested in keeping seeds from the plants in their garden, but it’s a process that can be intimidating. For this week’s episode, I invited Executive Director of the Rocky Mountain Seed Alliance and master seed saver, Bill McDorman, to share his expertise for anyone […] The post 125-Saving Seeds: The Basics, the Benefits and Beyond appeared first on joe gardener® | Organic Gardening Like a Pro.

Do you save seeds? These days, more and more gardeners are interested in keeping seeds from the plants in their garden, but it’s a process that can be intimidating. For this week’s episode, I invited Executive Director of the Rocky Mountain Seed Alliance and master seed saver, Bill McDorman, to share his expertise for anyone interested in saving seeds.

Last week was the first in this two-part conversation with British gardening legend, Charles Dowding. If you missed it, I recommend you start there. That episode focused on Charles’ background and the no-dig garden method for which he is so renowned. Today’s discussion focuses on how Charles is using compost for more than just a […] The post 124-Using Compost the Charles Dowding Way: More Than Just a Great Soil Amendment appeared first on joe gardener® | Organic Gardening Like a Pro.

Last week was the first in this two-part conversation with British gardening legend, Charles Dowding. If you missed it, I recommend you start there. That episode focused on Charles’ background and the no-dig garden method for which he is so renowned. Today's discussion focuses on how Charles is using compost for more than just a great soil amendment.

One of the many things I love about hosting this podcast series is the opportunity to talk about a shared love of gardening with experts from various fields and gardeners who come from different experiences and methodologies. This week was all of that and more, because this week, I had the distinct pleasure of speaking […] The post 123-No-dig Gardening, with Charles Dowding: A Convincing Case for Easier, More Productive Results appeared first on joe gardener® | Organic Gardening Like a...

One of the many things I love about hosting this podcast series is the opportunity to talk about a shared love of gardening with experts from various fields and gardeners who come from different experiences and methodologies. This week was all of that and more, because this week, I had the distinct pleasure of speaking with British gardening legend and the guru of no-dig gardening, Charles Dowding.

Here we are in mid-September already. Where did the summer go? I never mourn the end of the summer garden season, but I am getting a bit later start than usual on my favorite garden – the fall garden. So as I now plant in haste, I wanted to share what you should know for […] The post 122-Fall Vegetable Garden Success: Best Plants and Tips for Cool-Season Growing appeared first on joe gardener® | Organic Gardening Like a Pro.

Here we are in mid-September already. Where did the summer go? I never mourn the end of the summer garden season, but I am getting a bit later start than usual on my favorite garden - the fall garden. So as I now plant in haste, I wanted to share what you should know for fall vegetable garden success, including best plants and tips for cool-season growing.

Invasive pests. With an absence of natural predators – they can wreak serious havoc in our garden and, sometimes our environment. There’s a category of invasive creatures which isn’t lethal to our plantlife, but it still strikes fear in the heart of many gardeners. I’m talking about fire ants, and the sting of these creatures […] The post 121-Fire Ant Control: The Down and Dirty on Identification, Behavior and What to Know appeared first on joe gardener® | Organic Gardening Like a Pro.