Ground Rules: 100 Easy Lessons for Growing a More Glorious Garden

by Kate Frey

“This luscious, photo-filled guide will inspire you with one hundred easy-to-implement tips.” —Garden & Gun​ Gardening doesn’t have to be difficult, and expert gardener Kate Frey makes it easier than ever. Ground Rules distills the vital lessons of gardening into 100 simple rules that will yield a gorgeous, healthy, and thriving home garden. In the photo-rich pages you’ll discover tips on garden design, care and maintenance, healthy soil, and the best ways to water. You’ll also learn how to create a garden that encourages birds and butterflies, how to choose healthy plants at the garden center, how and when to re-pot a container, and much more. With bite-size chunks of expert information and inspiring ideas, Ground Rules is your new go-to resource.  

Genres: Gardening, Nonfiction, Nature, How To, Crafts

228 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 1, 2025

Reviews

[Sheri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ground Rules contains useful garden wisdom for the beginning gardener. One hundred principles for successful gardening are shared in short one page summaries. These brief guidelines are meant to encourage and maintain optimum aesthetics and growth without overwhelming the reader with lengthy and strict rules. It’s an attractive book, and while I appreciate the artistic design and the beautiful flower pictures do inspire, ultimately this is more of a pretty coffee table book than an educational one.

[Jennifer ~ TarHeelReader · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love to garden, especially with flowers. It’s just as relaxing as reading, and it’s fun and rewarding to watch it all grow and flower. All of my grandparents, great aunts and uncles, were/are gardeners, as are my parents, and I like to think I know a few things about gardening, too, but I have so much to learn.

Ground Rules is filled with simple tips like how to select your plants, how you might design an area, to watering guidelines, and everything in between. It is written in an approachable, easy-to-read style, and is filled with colorful and inspiring pictures. What I loved most was seeing visual examples of the types of plants recommended in the narrative.

I will be buying a copy of Ground Rules, so that I can incorporate a few tips each season. This would also make an excellent coffee table book.

Thank you to Timber Press for the ARC. Ground Rules will be published on November 13, 2018.

[Cheri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Divided into six sections, Ground Rules begins with Become your own garden designer, taking into consideration where you want to have a seating area, or do you want tables and chairs, a fountain, perhaps. Do you want a place where you can hide away from the rest of the world, or do you want to have an open and spacious design? So many things to think about – what kinds of plants, based on where you live and how the seasons vary, what is your vision? I think that this is the most important thing to know or decide, or at least have some idea, so you can make a plan.

The photography in this is excellent, as is the advice that Ms. Frey offers. This could be used by any level gardener, or just for a lovely coffee table book, or something to just inspire you now and then. The photographs should also give you some inspiration for ideas for your own garden.

I miss having a yard I could actually create a garden in, although there are garden areas in mine, but they are established with plants I would never have chosen, but make sense – easy to care for. I’m more interested in having one that attracts butterflies and birds, and is more aesthetically aligned with my taste. But this does give me ideas and incentive for some of the things I can change so that I can have a garden that I really enjoy looking at, sitting in, perhaps reading in.

This is one I've already pre-ordered from my local bookstore.


Pub Date: 13 NOV 2018


Many thanks for the ARC provided by Timber Press

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Provides plenty of food for thought for those contemplating planting a garden. Not so much an instructional manual, as an exploration into all the things to take into consideration, a sort of meandering along the garden path without a particular destination in mind.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gardening can be overwhelming - so many different things to know and think about. This little book distills the most important bits into short, easy to read, one-page "lessons" with beautiful accompanying pictures. Experts may not find much new here, but it's a good refresher.

*Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC, provided by the author and/or the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

[Literary Redhead · Rating 5 out of 5]

🌻 🌻 🌻 🌻 🌻

Ground Rules is a beautiful guide by expert gardener and designer Kate Frey, with 100 easy-to-follow lessons for growing a more luxurious garden. Frey shares vital steps for producing a healthy, thriving and gorgeous home garden, with tips on design, care, soil, water, attracting birds and butterflies, and much more. Brief lessons with lush photos make this a go-to resource for gardeners of all skill levels. 5/5

Pub Date 13 Nov 2018

Grateful to Timber Press and NetGalley for the review copy. Opinions are fully mine.

#GroundRules #NetGalley

[Candace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short rules for the beginner gardener. I liked the ease of readability and could see this being a coffee book easily. Beautiful photos. I really enjoyed the plant recommendations especially. Moderate to expert gardeners will not find much new but may enjoy the photos. I would definitely check out more Kate Frey. 3.5 stars.

Pub date Nov 13.

[Labibliotecaria · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gorgeous book with sensible advice for the beginning gardener or plant enthusiast, including budget-friendly tips that lead to healthier plants. I'm a sucker for a good gardening book, and this one definitely is. Well worth your time and money.

[Jan Polep · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this tiny book is like speed-dating with your garden...a picture/paragraph of easy lessons on topics like design, soil, plant choices, container gardening, pollinators and more. I found out I'm doing a lot of things wrong, especially with mulch and at the end of the season. Who knew?

[Lorilin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just like the title says, author Kate Frey gives 100 of the easiest and most important lessons she's learned in her many years of gardening. The book is divided into seven sections, and together they offer a "system of practices and design considerations that address every aspect of gardening." The sections cover:

1) Design (paths, seating, color combinations, etc.)
2) Planting Advice (plant for your region, weather, and location).
3) Soil (how to identify the soil you have and then amend it)
4) Water (conserve, use drip irrigation, don't plant plants that can't realistically grow under the water conditions you currently have)
5) Be a Good Garden Parent (deadhead, divide plants, don't let weeds go to seed)
6) Attract Birds, Bees, and Butterflies (attract insects with specific plants, water features, etc.)
7) Create a Garden of Earthly Delights (how to evoke emotion and create community through plants)

Most of the info in this book is basic, and if you're already an experienced gardener, the advice may not rock your world. But I still found some new-to-me helpful hints that I will definitely use in the coming seasons. My favorites:

***Plant in groups no bigger than three. I always hear "plant in groups of three," but this is the first time I've heard that clumps of 4+ plants don't look that great.
***Plant smaller plants. Apparently, it's easier on plants to buy them small so they can grow root systems adapted to your specific growing environment. A bigger plant at the nursery may be more established and stronger where it is, but once that plant moves to a new environment, it will have trouble adjusting.
***Mulch most plants once a year. I was always unsure about how many times to mulch, but now I know.
***Use cardboard covered with one to three inches of mulch in the fall. It helps protect plants while putting nutrients back into the soil.

Ground Rules is a fun book. It's best for beginners, but more seasoned gardeners may find it useful, too. I'm in charge of the garden at my kid's school, and we have a lot of parent volunteers. I'm already thinking that this book would make a great thank-you gift for them.

Thank you Timber Press and Net Galley for the ARC!

See more of my book reviews at www.bugbugbooks.com!

[patrick Lorelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book for you to make your own garden and how to care for it when you are finished. If you already have a garden and want changes the author takes you through those as well. You find out when is the best time to re-plant, how to re-plant into pots, types of soil is best, how much or how little you should water which I found is very helpful and in the long run can save you money in not having to repurchase plants. She also gives you suggestions on the types of plants you want because certain ones attract different birds, or some even attract butterflies. I found this book to be full of useful information and a very handy book to have around for me in my shed with all of my gardening and replanting items. A very good book. I received this book from Netgalley.com I gave it 5 stars. Follow us at www.1rad-readerreviews.com

[maya · Rating 5 out of 5]

i love mother earth!!!
🌿🍄🐚🌎🪸🐝🌷

[Penny Ramirez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe 3.5. Pretty pictures. Nice hints at what to do, but not practical as a gardening manual. It did help put me in the mood for getting my garden going! Now if the weather would just cooperate.

[Lorraine · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Stars Great book by Kate Frey filled with ideas to inspire and to educate one on planting (or maintaining) a fabulous flower garden. She offers 100 great lessons... I considered them more like bits of wisdom from a wise gardener. Highly recommend!

[Psusan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ground Rules (100 Easy Lessons for Growing a More Glorious Garden) by Kate Frey is exactly what the name implies. It is a book of readable lessons for the novice yard gardener. While I love gardening, there is much that I do not know. I have read many different books on gardening but found this to be the easiest and clearest all around. For those who are experts on gardening this may not have new information. For me it was wonderful. I found it to be an excellent read. I am not sure that I don’t still find gardening to be a taunting task, but Ground Rules encourages one to try their hand at it.

While it could be used as a reference for a particular question, I read it from beginning to end enjoying the different “lessons” from rootbound plants to hummingbird migration. The illustrations are closeups, clear and beautiful. For that reason this book could also become a coffee table book; kept close by anyone’s casual look through.

The publisher through Net Galley provided an ARC. I have voluntarily decided to read and review, giving my personal opinions and thoughts.

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.
Ground Rules: 100 Easy Lessons for Growing a More Glorious Garden is a new gardening theory book by Kate Frey. It's 216 pages, available in hardback and ebook formats and due out 13th Nov, 2018.

This book does include 100 short 1-2 page tips to increase the reader's gardening enjoyment. To me, they read a lot like those page-a-day calendars. The entries are short and pithy and easy to read and digest. Most of the 'rules' are accompanied by lush garden photographs and it's the photography that really carries this book.

The photographs help illustrate the rules and I found a fair bit of inspiration. I've never been a blind follower or a really habitual planner. This often leads me to wander around my garden with irresistible impulse plant purchase in hand, trying to find a place to set it out. I've been saying for a long time that I really need more planning and structure in my garden and this book provides a number of delicious photographs of the potential benefits of careful planning.

Lovely book, bite size lessons.

Three and a half stars.

[Leyla Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not only is this book beautiful to look at with amazing photos, but the text makes wonderful reading. This book has a very holistic approach to gardening, just reading it makes me feel wonderful. I really love this book. Although written with America gardens in mind, it can easily be adapted to any part of the world, just change the birdlife, and native plants as required or not.
An organic book like no other.

[Alicia Bayer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a pretty little garden book that's full of beautiful garden photos for inspiration and lots of great garden advice. Veteran gardeners may not find a lot of new advice but they'll be inspired by the photos. New gardeners will find lots of great advice. This book would make a great coffee table book, gift or book to cozy up with during dreary winter months.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for the purpose of review.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book contains "100 easy lessons" about gardening, which makes it very easy to pick up and put down. Each lesson is just a paragraph of text, with an image on the opposing page. I kept the book at my desk to look at during lunches and breaks, and it worked well.
Potential readers should be aware that this book is focused almost exclusively on decorative gardens or gardens as a space, rather than on getting a large crop of vegetables. There really isn't much mention of gardens for food at all.
Less than half of the lessons in this book really gave me new insights into gardening. A fairly large number didn't apply to my situation because they related to plants that I can't grow in this climate or because I don't have the sort of space described. Others were simply not new to me. However, because each lesson is short, I didn't mind skimming briefly over those that didn't apply and moving on to those that did provide insight or inspiration.

[Jana Henderson (Reviews from the Stacks) · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of all, this book is beautiful. It is loaded with gorgeous pictures of flowers, gardens, and yards. Each page has a helpful gardening rule; these "rules" are more than a one-sentence tip, but not an entire dissertation on any one topic. There is usually a single paragraph explaining why this information is helpful, how to use it, and a few examples of plants that can benefit from it. The rules cover a broad range of gardening topics, from determining how much to water to creating a visually appealing space. I don't think this is a book I will go back to often, but as a beginning gardener it is an easy to read foundation, and helped me recognize a few things I need to do further research on. There is also a useful list of additional references in the back, and an index so you can search out information on specific topics if you aren't in the mood to flip through everything.

[Carla Bayha · Rating 4 out of 5]

've been gardening for 30 years and have traveled to 2/3s of the public gardens in the appendix, and I still picked up some major inspiration from Kate Frey's very reasonably priced book. Most everyone does some gardening on my one block street, which was not the case when I first moved in. The variety of shrubs and perennials has increased exponentially. But there are still neighbors out there with leaf blowers and lawn services, who have accidental gardens of garlic mustard. Get this for new homeowners and gardeners, and even old gardeners. For instance, I've only been using cardboard to stamp out weed ridden areas in my garden for a few years (Rule 70). I wanted more on water features, but "Water Rules" could be a whole new book!

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kate Frey has gardened and designed gardens all over the world. In Ground Rules, she touches on practically every topic about beginning a garden that could be considered and should be considered. In planning your garden, consider color, the season, climate, space. She reminds us to consider using multiple plants in a pot and multiple colors in an area. Consider the soil and adjust your fertilizer because you shouldn’t fertilize everything the same way. There are beautiful garden scenes throughout the discussion of rules. All of this and more in less than 250 pages. Grab your shovel and see how your garden grows.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative book divided into bite sized chunks, or "Rules'.
The Chapters I really enjoyed covered the following topics:
How to make your own compost
Being a Water Wise gardener
Saying no to Pollarding
Using Cardboard in the garden
I will purchase for library.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

While it might be easy to write this off as a list made into a book, it is definitely more than that. There is real information to be harvested from the list, which is divided sensibly.

I found this useful, as an insecure gardener with big ideas.

[Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 - I enjoyed it. Gorgeous photography, and some good tips, but seems to be aimed more at those designing a garden that's purely floral/decorative, and with already established plants rather than from seed (which is absolutely fine).

[Write Gardener · Rating 4 out of 5]

Got this from the library on a whim...ended up purchasing my own copy because, although it appears simplified, it had some very good tips and bits of info I hadn't known about --- even after 30 years of gardening!

[Michele · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, easy to understand tips for a beginning or experienced gardener.

[Terryls · Rating 2 out of 5]

No depth or detail

[Kate Robertella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great for a novice gardener! Beautiful book!

[emyrose8 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick read with lots of bright pictures and easy to read text. One I want to revisit when I start my own garden!