Eco-Lawn & Native Plant Mixes with Miriam Goldberger from Wildflower Farm

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.

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Email your questions and comments to downthegardenpathpodcast@hotmail.com, or connect with Joanne via her website: down2earth.ca

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.