Mar 03 2025 38 mins 5
Seed-starting season has officially begun! This week on Down the Garden Path podcast, Joanne Shaw gets tips and advice on seeds for your lawn and garden from Rebecca Boyar of West Coast Seeds.
About Rebecca Boyar
Rebecca Boyar has an extensive and varied career in horticulture, spanning nearly 35 years. She began her journey managing an herb farm on the west coast in the early 90s. From there, she transitioned to developing a non-profit horticultural program and launching the first urban hydroponic training facility in Canada. She later worked as a Non-GMO Commodity Merchandiser at a small agricultural brokerage in southern Manitoba, focusing on soybean and organic production. In 2018, she moved into the cannabis sector, serving as a Master Grower and a Health Canada approved Quality Assurance Processor in Quebec.
Currently, Rebecca is a West Coast Seeds representative in eastern Ontario, offering her horticultural expertise and knowledge in the non-GMO and organic seeds market.
About West Coast Seeds
West Coast Seeds was founded in 1983 in Vancouver, British Columbia, with the purpose of sourcing and supplying seeds of the highest quality while following the traditions of organic farming and gardening. They offer over 1,100 varieties of untreated, non-genetically modified seeds. For them, organic is about much more than saying no to chemicals, it is about saying yes to building a healthy soil for the future.
Renee's Garden and Cornucopia Seeds are sister brands of West Coast Seeds, proudly owned and operated by the same Canadian-based family. You can find these premium-quality seeds at garden centres across Canada.
Here are some of the topics covered in this episode:
- Rebecca discussed her journey to West Coast Seeds and how the season of seed starting is upon us.
- Provided tips on the seeds that need an early start and that we should start now.
- The new seed mix from West Coast Seeds called Grub Resistant Lawn Blend.
- Regular turf attracts grubs, which affects our lawns, leading to Japanese beetles, which affect our plants.
- This new mix of Tall Fescue and pelleted Micro-Clover forms a thick, drought-resistant lawn without the thatch that the beetles love to lay their eggs in.
- Rebecca discussed the best practices for applying this grass seed and there is more information on their website.
- West Coast Seeds has a nice variety of lawn blends for many situations including a Chafer Beetle Resistant lawn blend for those that battle the Chafer Beetle and an Alternative Lawn Wildflower mix.
- This blend is an alternative to having a lawn, and it forms low-growing ground cover that includes a mix of fine fescues, flowers and clover species that stay about 6-8 inches high.
- A nice idea for anyone with a small lawn who wants to support pollinators.
- You can order seed from their website or most garden centres will stock West Coast Seeds.
- If you cannot find something you want in a local store then you can request the store to order it for you.
- For those that enjoy a paper seed catalog, you can order one from their website, as well.
Find West Coast Seeds online:
Website: www.westcoastseeds.com
Instagram: @westcoastseeds
Facebook: @westcoastseeds
ouTube: @westcoastseedstv
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
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.
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