BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine Podcast · Immediate Media

Adam Frost on how to find the magic in your garden

January 6, 2026·27 min·2 clips

Adam Frost designs gardens by creating playlists that evoke specific emotions and moods.

This episode features garden designer and television presenter Adam Frost in conversation with BBC Gardeners' World Magazine's Claire Vannis at a live audience recording. They explore how gardening actively contributes to personal health and well-being. Frost discusses his recent project creating a therapeutic garden for the entrance of Colchester Hospital, transforming a former concrete car park into a calming dry garden with private seating areas. He emphasizes designing gardens based on how they feel rather than just how they look, using personal playlists to inspire different moods and atmospheres. Frost explains the importance of sensory elements like scent, recommending rosemary for mornings and placing winter box by a door for fragrance. He connects plants to memory, sharing that he grows Alicante tomatoes annually to feel connected to his late grandmother. The physical act of gardening and direct contact with soil is highlighted as beneficial, with Frost suggesting gardeners sometimes work without gloves. He advocates for viewing a garden as a series of moments rather than a perfect picture, noting that even featured gardens have unattractive areas not shown on television. A memorable story involves Frost observing finches feeding on uncut agastache seedheads in his garden for twenty minutes, a moment of magic he would have missed by tidying up. He structures his own garden in layers like a woodland, with trees, shrubs, perennials, and bulbs to ensure year-round interest. Frost reveals his design process is often guided by music, a method that emerged from conversations with his psychiatrist following a diagnosis of depression and burnout. He describes planting trees and roses as living memorials to important people in his life. For Frost, plant color is a "bonus," while he prioritizes shape, form, and texture to build atmosphere. He credits his late mentor, Geoff Hamilton, with teaching him the profound power of gardening and the idea that gardeners are generally nice people. The tone is conversational, reflective, and warmly anecdotal, blending practical gardening advice with personal philosophy. Listeners interested in the therapeutic aspects of gardening and creative garden design will find this episode deeply engaging. Those seeking strictly technical horticultural instruction might find the focus on well-being and personal narrative less aligned with their interests.

As heard by us

A calm case for noticing moments, not chasing a flawless garden.

Adam Frost presents gardening as a way to make room for oneself, and to release the pressure that a garden must look perfect. Recorded live at the BBC Gardeners' World Autumn Fair, the conversation feels open and public, with space for thoughts on wellbeing, mental health, and…

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If your garden feels bigger than your energy, start here.

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