Book Review: How to Create Your Garden

Reviewed by Brett Kerley

Frost, Adam. How to Create Your Garden. DK Publishing, 2020. ISBN-13: 978-1465472854. Pages: 256

As an Edmonton gardener, I’ve learned to balance dreams of lush greenery with the realities of our conditions. Short growing seasons, unpredictable frosts, and heavy clay soils all affect what we can plant. Can a book written by a British garden designer feel relevant here on the Prairies? To my surprise—and delight—it turns out that many of Frost’s garden design principles translate beautifully, even if his plant palette doesn’t always match our Zone 3/4 climate.

One of Frost’s strongest points is his insistence that a garden is more than just a collection of plants. He starts with the basics: how you move through a space, where the sun lands, and where you naturally want to sit or gather. That approach feels especially useful here in Edmonton, where many of us inherit new suburban lots with nothing, or older yards that need reimagining. Frost encourages you to sketch, think about shapes and flow, and only then begin choosing plants. This discipline that saves a lot of frustration in our climate, where trial-and-error planting can be costly in both time and survival rates.

Frost’s sketches and photos are rich with ideas. Winding paths draw the eye, small seating areas tuck into greenery, and borders layer for year-round structure. While many of the plants he uses won’t survive here, the underlying design lessons—contrast of height, texture, and form—are universal. I could easily picture replacing his clipped boxwood with hardier Calgary boxwood, or swapping out his lush perennials for stalwart Edmonton favourites like daylilies, peonies, or Karl Foerster feather reed grass.

Frost shares solid planting strategies that ring true in Edmonton. Group plants with similar water and light needs, mix evergreens with perennials for year-round appeal, and don’t be afraid of repetition for impact. His reminder that groundcovers help suppress weeds is gold for anyone tired of dandelions pushing through their beds. Of course, our choices differ—think creeping thyme or sedum instead of English ivy—but the principle is the same.

I had to adapt Frost’s lessons around his relaxed assumption of long growing seasons. In Britain, gardeners enjoy mild weather from March well into October. Here, frost can arrive in early September, and May planting often feels like a gamble. However, if you use Frost’s design ideas as a framework rather than a strict prescription, they’re easy to adapt. Want layered planting for seasonal interest? In Edmonton, that might mean early spring tulips, midsummer lilies, and late-blooming rudbeckia rather than his choice of camellias and roses.

Frost’s friendly, down-to-earth voice makes the book a joy to read. He never talks down to you, and he acknowledges mistakes and experiments along the way. That’s something Edmonton gardeners can relate to—we’re constantly trialling what will actually survive here, and it helps to be reminded that gardening is as much about the journey as the final picture.

• New homeowners with bare backyards who need a design plan before planting a single shrub.
• Gardeners upgrading older spaces who want to bring flow and intention to tired layouts
• Anyone intimidated by “design”—Frost makes it feel approachable, not elitist.

Adam Frost is an award-winning British garden designer, author, and television presenter. He’s best known for his role on BBC Gardeners’ World. With over 30 years of experience, he has won multiple gold medals at the prestigious Chelsea Flower Show and runs his own design business. He creates gardens that balance structure with natural planting. Frost is particularly admired for his approachable teaching style, whether on television, in workshops, or through his books. He loves helping ordinary people transform their outdoor spaces into meaningful, functional, and beautiful gardens—a goal that resonates strongly, even for gardeners half a world away here in Edmonton.

How to Create Your Garden is less about telling you what plants to grow and more about teaching you how to think like a garden designer. For Edmonton gardeners, that’s a gift. It allows us to take his principles and adapt them with hardy prairie plants, while still creating a cohesive, personal space.

I came away from the book not feeling like I needed to mimic an English country garden, but as if I had the tools to shape my own prairie retreat—one that works with our sun, soil, and seasons.

This book can be borrowed from Edmonton Public Library or purchased from local bookstores.