During her 30-plus years as a gardening teacher, landscaping consultant and radio host, Joy Bossi has given advice to thousands of Utahns on the best way to prune trees, grow vegetables, select plants, wrangle weeds and deal with bad bugs.

It’s her entertaining, down-to-earth style that plants seeds of excitement in backyard gardeners.

“I’ve always had this feeling around plants, especially trees, that I’m spiritually connected to them,” she said.

At 67, Bossi is semi-retired and works a schedule that mirrors the gardening season. After a relaxing winter, she kicks into gear the first week of March and doesn’t stop until fall.

This week she will once again be a presenter at The Salt Lake Tribune Home and Garden Festival this weekend at the South Towne Expo Center in Sandy. She’ll be talking about pruning Friday and Saturday on the Garden stage. (See box for details.) Her advice will be different this year, thanks to Utah’s record warm winter. “We didn’t have snow this year,” she said, “which changes things.”

Bossi is not one to stand onstage and lecture, explained Brooke Peterson, the festival manager. Her teaching style is hands-on — walking around with branches and showing homeowners where to make the kindest cuts.

“People love her and feel like her advice is so valuable,” Peterson said. “She’s so knowledgeable about our climate and what plants work best here.”

Also on Saturday, Bossi’s “Joy in Your Garden” radio show begins its 2015 run. The show, where amateur gardeners call in and ask questions, airs every Saturday from 8 to 10 a.m. through October on KLO-1430 AM.