Landscape Designer Spotlight: Rita Nugent of Rita Nugent Landscape Design
Down The Garden Path PodcastShow Notes
This month on Down the Garden Path, Joanne welcomes five talented landscape designers, each with their own style, story, and specialty. What connects them all is a shared passion for creating beautiful, thoughtful outdoor spaces for their clients. Tune in each week in March as they share their experiences, perspectives, and the many ways landscape design can shape how we live outdoors. This week, Joanne welcomes Rita Nugent, a landscape designer in Southern Ontario, and owner of Rita Nugent Landscape Design. Topics Covered Rita's journey from solving problems in her own garden to becoming a professional landscape designer How compacted soil, mature trees, pools, pets, and family life shaped her practical design philosophy Why Rita focuses on design-only services and how that helps homeowners stay in control of projects and budgets The importance of planning both hardscaping and softscaping together, rather than treating planting as an afterthought How thoughtful design considers entertaining space, traffic flow, privacy, recreation, and future phases of a project The rise of virtual landscape design and how Rita uses Dynascape, client photos, surveys, and Google Earth to make it work Why designers often notice bigger issues homeowners may miss, including neighbouring trees, conservation land, municipal regulations, and permit-related planting requirements How municipalities are increasingly focused on tree canopy, flood mitigation, and sustainable planting Why starting with a landscape design can help avoid costly mistakes, bylaw issues, drainage problems, and neighbour disputes The role of landscape designers in helping homeowners choose plants that will actually thrive, not just survive Why good design saves money by helping contractors quote accurately and reducing changes later Sustainable landscaping ideas, including enlarging garden beds, using natural mulch, amending soil, reducing unnecessary lawn, harvesting rainwater, and supporting pollinators Rita's insight that gardening and landscaping are "the purest form of optimism" The impact professional landscaping can have on property value, resale appeal, and long-term enjoyment Common homeowner requests such as low-maintenance gardens, privacy solutions, deer resistance, and goose deterrence Rita's current favourite plant choice: a unique Japanese maple, chosen for beauty and year-round enjoyment Takeaways and Tips Start with a professional landscape plan before hiring contractors or installing patios, decks, pools, or planting beds. Treat the landscape as a whole system rather than separating hardscaping from planting. Think beyond your property line. Neighbouring trees, conservation land, drainage patterns, and bylaws can all affect your project. Ask about future phases of your yard so today's choices do not create tomorrow's headaches. Use accurate measurements and documentation to avoid design and installation mistakes. Consider virtual design if you live outside your designer's local area or need a more flexible process. Choose plants based on your site conditions, climate, and maintenance goals, not just online inspiration photos. Preserve and support mature trees whenever possible. They add beauty, shade, environmental value, and property value. Harvest rainwater and direct it into your garden, where possible, to support healthier plants and reduce runoff. Low-maintenance does not mean no-maintenance, but smart plant choices and proper installation can dramatically reduce the workload. Before digging, always arrange for utility locates through Ontario One Call A well-designed landscape is not just attractive. It can improve privacy, function, sustainability, resale appeal, and day-to-day enjoyment. Find Rita online at www.ritanugentlandscapedesign.com. Have a topic you'd like Joanne to discuss? Email your questions and comments to [email protected], or connect with Joanne on her website: down2earth.ca Find Down
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Is your garden soil giving your plants everything they need to thrive? Last November, Joanne welcomed Amy Ellard-Gray to the podcast to explore why soil testing is one of the smartest steps you can take toward a healthier garden. Discover how understanding your soil can help you solve plant problems, avoid costly mistakes and take the guesswork out of gardening. About Amy Amy runs The Hobby Homestead in suburban Guelph, where she cultivates over 100 varieties of native plants to support the local ecosystem. Through her YouTube channel, Instagram, website, and in-person consultations, she helps people design and troubleshoot their own food-growing spaces. Her mantra, "growing food in harmony with nature," guides everything she does, from tending soil life to welcoming wildlife into the garden. Topics discussed in this episode: Understanding Your Soil: Why Testing Matters: Amy and Joanne discuss why healthy gardens start with healthy soil and explore the benefits of professional soil testing. Building Healthy Soil for Better Gardening Results: From choosing quality triple mix to using compost, mulch and organic matter, Joanne and Amy share practical ways to improve soil health. They also discuss raised beds, container gardening, crop rotation and how working with nature can create healthier, more productive gardens with less maintenance. Growing More Food in Small Spaces: Amy explains how thoughtful planning, good soil and sustainable gardening practices can help homeowners grow more food, even in smaller yards, raised beds and containers. Find The Hobby Homestead at www.thehobbyhomestead.com and on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. Resources Mentioned in the Show: Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden Have a topic you'd like Joanne to discuss? Email your questions and comments to [email protected], or connect with Joanne on her website: down2earth.ca Find Down the Garden Path on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube: @downthegardenpathpodcast. Down the Garden Path Podcast On Down the Garden Path, professional landscape designer Joanne Shaw discusses down-to-earth tips and advice for your plants, gardens and landscapes. As owner of Down2Earth Landscape Design, Joanne Shaw has designed 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.
Have you ever wished you could save your favourite annuals instead of replacing them every spring? In this episode of Down the Garden Path, Joanne Shaw shares three ways to save your annuals, from bringing entire plants indoors to growing new plants from cuttings and storing dormant tubers. Learn which methods work best for popular plants like coleus, geraniums, begonias and million bells, along with practical tips for keeping them healthy through the winter. It's a great way to stretch your gardening budget and give some of your favourite plants a second season. Topics discussed: How to Save Your Annuals Over the Winter Many annuals can survive the winter indoors and grow again next spring. Joanne explains how to bring plants inside, prepare them for dormancy and care for them through the colder months. Three Methods for Overwintering Annuals Learn how to save annuals by keeping the whole plant indoors, propagating new plants from cuttings or storing dormant tubers and bulbs. Discover which methods work best for plants such as coleus, geraniums, begonias, million bells and cigar plants. Save Money and Grow More Plants Next Spring Overwintering annuals can help reduce gardening costs while giving you more plants to enjoy or share. Get practical tips for managing light, watering, humidity and temperature. Resources Mentioned in the Show: Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden h3>Have a topic you'd like Joanne to discuss? Email your questions and comments to [email protected], or connect with Joanne on her website: down2earth.ca Find Down the Garden Path on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube: @downthegardenpathpodcast. Down the Garden Path Podcast On 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.
Is October really the time to cut everything back and put the garden to bed? Not necessarily. In this episode, we've gathered some of Joanne's best tips for October in the garden. She shares why October can actually be one of the easiest months, with just a few simple tasks to focus on and plenty you can leave alone. Here are some of the topics discussed in this episode: Do less this fall: There's no need for a major fall cleanup. Most perennials can be left standing, leaf litter can remain, and spent plant material provides a winter habitat for beneficial insects. Prepare for next year: October is a good time to assess the garden, take photos, identify gaps, water newly planted trees and shrubs deeply, mulch fallen leaves into the lawn, and plant garlic. Bulbs and lawn care: Discover why you should buy spring bulbs now but wait until late October or November to plant them. Learn more about fall lawn care, including reseeding, leaving grass taller, fertilizing and dealing with weeds. Have a topic you'd like Joanne to discuss? Email your questions and comments to [email protected], or connect via her website at down2earth.ca. Are you a landscape or gardening expert? We'd love to have you on the show! Click here to learn more. Find Down the Garden Path on Instagram, Facebook, and Have a topic you'd like Joanne to discuss? Email your questions and comments to [email protected], or connect with Joanne on her website: down2earth.ca Find Down the Garden Path on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube: @downthegardenpathpodcast. Down the Garden Path Podcast On 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.
Not sure what to do with your roses this fall? This week on Down the Garden Path, Joanne is joined by master gardener and author Cauleen Viscoff to talk about making rose care a little less intimidating. They cover fall rose care, winter preparation, planting and moving roses, climbing roses, common pests and, of course, pruning. Cauleen also shares the story behind her upcoming book, Pruning Roses: From Mystery to Mastery, and why understanding how a rose grows is the key to knowing how to prune it. Here are some of the topics discussed in this episode: Fall Rose Care and Winter Preparation: Why fall is not the time for major pruning, how mulch can help, when winter protection is actually necessary, and why choosing hardy roses suited to your zone makes a big difference. Choosing, Planting and Growing Roses Successfully: Learn more about hardy shrub roses, carpet roses, hybrid teas and climbing roses, including companion planting, moving roses in fall, proper watering and how to train climbing roses for better flowering. Taking the Mystery Out of Rose Pruning: Cauleen explains how learning the different growth habits of roses makes pruning much easier and shares how her own sketches became the foundation for her upcoming book and pruning reference cards. To learn more about Cauleen and her upcoming book, visit lush-gardens.com. Have a topic you'd like Joanne to discuss? Email your questions and comments to [email protected], or connect with Joanne on her website: down2earth.ca Find Down the Garden Path on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube: @downthegardenpathpodcast. Down the Garden Path Podcast On 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.
Have you considered adding native ornamental grasses to your garden? They're often overlooked but add colour, texture, and movement while providing food and shelter for birds and other wildlife. This week on the podcast, Joanne takes a closer look at a few standout varieties that can bring interest to the garden well beyond the summer months. Some of the topics covered in this week's episode: Why Native Ornamental Grasses Belong in the Garden How native grasses add structure, movement and seasonal interest while also providing food and shelter for birds and other wildlife. Big Bluestem, Little Bluestem and Their Cultivars Joanne compares these native grasses and highlights varieties such as Standing Ovation, Blackhawks and Red October, including their size, colour and growth habits. Getting More Seasonal Value from Ornamental Grasses Leave grasses standing through fall and winter for visual interest, wildlife benefits, and stronger garden structure. Have a topic you'd like Joanne to discuss? Email your questions and comments to [email protected], or connect with Joanne on her website: down2earth.ca Find Down the Garden Path on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube: @downthegardenpathpodcast. Down the Garden Path Podcast On 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.