Gardeners’ World presenter Adam Frost shares his mental health battles ahead of bringing his show to York

Frost, 53, left home at 16 after his family moved from Harlow in Essex to Devon.

“I’d had a very complex childhood, spending a lot of time with my grandparents and then suddenly I was moved to Devon. It didn’t go well,” he admits, adding that he was eventually diagnosed as dyslexic which might explain his dislike of school. "Take a teenager out of Essex where he had lived all his life and plonk him in North Devon where he doesn’t know anyone. I left home as soon as I could.”

He was left with three options.

“I was told I could either go and work in a kitchen and try to become a chef, go in the army or become a gardener."

Having spent time as a little boy helping out on his grandparents allotment and green house he decided on gardening, which he says, was a game changer. “Tiny nan and granddad had an allotment with a little greenhouse at the end and I was allowed to open the door in the morning and the smell was amazing. I fell in love with growing vegetables – something I still love doing today.

"I nearly joined the army but then I saw a little advert for an apprenticeship in the parks department at North Devon Council and I just loved it – not just because it was something I could do and had the connection to my grandparents, but because of the people. I learnt so much from them – they had so much time for me and taught me so much. Without them I think my life would have been very different.”

Aged 21 Frost became an assistant to Geoff Hamilton, who was a presenter on BBC Gardeners’ World, helping him with small gardens in Barnsdale Gardens, Rutland.

“The more I did the more I fell in love with it. Geoff taught me just to have a go and realise that gardening is a life-time of learning – I am still learning now.”

After Hamilton died Frost set up his own landscape company and progressed to running his own garden courses and garden design and landscaping business.

Then in 2005 he was asked to build a garden for Sir Terence Coran at the RHA Chelsea Flower Show and it made him determined to build his own garden there.

"It cost us £18,000 of our money,” he says.

“We didn’t have a pot, but it won a gold medal and that we it, things just took off.” Since then he has won seven gold medals at the Chelsea Flower Show and one silver.

In 2014 Adam set up The Homebase Garden Academy with the specific aim of helping Britain’s next generation of horticulture students to kick-start their careers, by teaching them about garden design and landscaping, with his Chelsea Sponsor Homebase and in 2016 he joined Gardeners' World along side Monty Don as a presenter something he put down to Nick Knowles.

"I’d done a number of talks and people, including Alan Titchmarsh, kept saying I’d be good on the telly, but I wasn’t convinced and then I met Nick Knowles.

"He asked if I’d help with one of his DIY SOS big projects in Manchester for veterans and it went really well. I did a two-piece feature for Gardeners’ World which unbeknown to me they entered for a television award.” As a result, in 2016, he won ‘Best New Talent’ at the RTS West Awards.

In March 2017, The Adam Frost Garden School opened in Lincolnshire offering gardening skills and garden design courses.

Aside from BBC’s Gardeners’ World (BBC Two), he also appears regularly on the BBC’s coverage of RHS Flower Show. He has also featured on The One Show and DIY SOS (BBC One) as well as The Alan Titchmarsh Show (ITV).

However when he was approached and asked if he fancied touring the UK with his own show he thought it was a joke.

"I thought someone was taking the mickey,” says Frost. “I couldn’t imagine who would want to come and pay to hear me talk, I’m just a lad that gardens – I thought I’d end up with three old ladies and a dog.” He needn’t have worried. After an initial tour of ten dates more have now been added, including York Theatre Royal on Tuesday.

Frost explores his love for the great outdoors and shares anecdotes from his time working for the parks department, Geoff Hamilton and also more personal stories about his mental health.

"I really is quite funny,” he stresses.

“And although I didn’t go out to talk about my health it just sort of happened, I am an honest guy who believes in talking openly and people really seem to relate to it,” he says he has received very positive feedback from the audience including from one lady whose husband after seeing the show broke down and admitted he was struggling with depression and decided to seek help as a result.

“I was worried about laying every think out there at first, but people have responded so positively to me talking openly about my struggles that it has been worth it.”He remains passionate about inspiring adults and children alike to start their own horticultural journeys, and also of the power of gardening to help people’s mental and physical wellbeing.

He regularly lectures on a wide range of horticultural topics, both nationally and internationally and is a regular contributor to horticultural magazines.

His first book ‘Real Gardens’ was published in 2015 and his second ‘RHS How to Create your Garden: Ideas and Advice for Transforming your Outdoor Space’ is available now. As well as running his own garden design and landscape business he also sits on the Horticulture Trades Association; is an RHS Ambassador and runs The Adam Frost Garden School where he hosts masterclasses on design and other gardening courses. Adam and his wife Sulina live in Lincolnshire with their four children, one horse, two ponies, two dogs and an ancient cat.

An Evening with Adam Frost will be at York Theatre Roy on April 11 at 7.30 pm for detail visit fane.co.uk/adam-frost