The Creative Gardener: Inspiration and Advice to Create the Space You Want

by Adam Frost

Overview

Clever ideas and imaginative solutions from BBC Gardeners’ World host Adam Frost to help you transform your garden, element by element, into a personalized dream space.
 
Adam shows how small plantings, design flourishes, hands-on creative projects, and simple hard landscaping projects can help transform your garden. Taking an artisan’s approach to his own garden, Adam emphasizes how you too can find inspiration and turn it into a garden feature, how to personalize your ideas – using what you already have – and upcycling. There’s something to suit everyone’s taste, space, and budget. 
 
Each project starts with Adam's inspiration, and then walks the reader through how he created the end product with clear step-by-step photography and instructions. Adam shows that inspiration doesn't have to come from other gardens. In fact, for him, it rarely does. It could be a natural feature such as a heap of wood, something you already own, or a salvage yard item you can upcycle. With a little work and a dash of imagination, you can create something truly personal in the garden and create the atmosphere you want, while developing your skills and enjoying the creative process.
 
Well known for his straightforward, clear presentation, and his award-winning design ideas, Adam combines these skills to offer realistic, achievable, impactful suggestions for transforming your space. Element by element, a weekend at a time, he can help you create the garden you’ve always wanted.
 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780744048162
Publisher:	DK
Publication date:	05/24/2022
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	7.60(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Adam Frost is an award-winning garden designer, with seven Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Chelsea Flower Show Gold Medals to his name. He is a host on BBC Gardeners’ World and BBC coverage of the RHS Flower Shows. In 2017, he set up the Adam Frost Garden school at his home in Lincolnshire, where he hosts informal workshops to gardening enthusiasts. Adam is also an RHS Ambassador, which has a mission close to his heart: to encourage the next generation of gardeners and to raise the profile of careers in horticulture.  86k Instagram followers

Table of Contents

Preface 06

Inspiration

Introduction 10

Creating atmosphere 12

Using your time 14

Recycling and upcycling 16

Finding inspiration 18

Projects

Introduction 24

Basic tools for soft landscaping 26

Basic tools for hard landscaping 28

Basic tools for the workshop 30

Types of chisels 32

Planting and Plant Supports 34

Introduction 36

Potting mixes for containers 38

Plant containers 40

Color, texture, and shape 42

Woodland container 44

Late spring containers 48

Containers for a sunny spot 54

Summer containers 58

Late summer containers 64

Green roof log store 70

Obelisk 80

Hazel ladder 88

Wildlife and Habitats 92

Introduction 94

Curved birdbath 96

Sparrow terrace 102

Toad house 112

Bee habitat 116

Insect seat 120

Furniture 128

Introduction 130

Coffee table planter 132

Simple log seat 138

Restoring furniture 142

Low bench 146

Tool chest 154

Water Features 160

Introduction 162

Mrs. Frost's vintage pot 164

Round pool 170

Hard Landscaping and Design Flourishes 180

Introduction 182

Wooden screen 184

Fire pit 190

Crosstie steps 198

Picking paths 208

Raised beds 216

Compost bin 222

Brick circle 228

Useful Information 238

Marking out the site and settling levels 240

Calculating materials 244

Glossary 246

Index 248

Suppliers 253

Acknowledgments 254

About the author 256

Editorial Reviews

05/02/2022

Gardens are set up as spaces for personalization in this clever offering from Frost, host of BBC’s Gardeners’ World. He lays out how to find inspiration and emphasizes the importance of customizing a garden, then offers up 30 projects for sprucing up an outside space, which require a “basic toolset” consisting of standard gardening goods, plus some woodworking tools and landscaping equipment such as a drill, level, and carpenter’s square. Readers will learn how to make their own “woodland container” for flowers and a “green roof log store,” as well as a birdbath, a sparrow terrace, and a cute toad house. Furniture projects are the “best opportunity” for individualizing a garden, he posits, and those on offer here include a coffee-table planter and a simple log seat. (For the latter, Frost reminds chainsaw handlers to make sure “you can get to the nearest hospital quickly.”) Along the way, he makes a solid case that gardening is important “not only because it’s good for the environment and boosts biodiversity, but also because it helps us slow down, be present in the moment, and appreciate the natural world.” Gardeners ready to move beyond plants should check this out. (May)

Publishers Weekly