The Wild & Free Garden: Transform Your Outdoor Space with Found Materials, Community Sharing, and Creative Ingenuity

The Wild & Free Garden is your guide to creating a stunning outdoor space using found materials, free resources, community connections, and your own creativity.

Imagine designing a beautiful and inspiring garden at a cost far less than you ever thought possible. Author Stephanie Rose of Garden Therapy(R) shows you how to do just that by tapping into the sharing economy, where you can find a wealth of free or low-cost materials with exceptional quality and style. The secret is knowing where and how to look.

The benefits of Stephanie's approach reach far beyond free stuff. The Wild & Free Garden returns you to the roots of community building and shows you how to create a garden that reflects your individual style, creativity, and personality. You'll spend less, waste less, and uncover an abundance that money can't buy. With every project and with every seed you plant, you'll grow a deeper connection to your garden, your community, and yourself.

Wild: Wildness is our history, when life was simpler, entwined with family and neighbors, and in tune with nature.

Free: Freedom is our abundance, found by sourcing well-crafted, long-lasting items for free, celebrating personal style, and sharing with the community.

Illustrated with vibrant color photography, The Wild & Free Garden teaches you to:

• Develop a sharing economy mindset and learn where to find the highest quality materials for free
• Embrace a no- or low-buy gardening lifestyle for a stylish, sustainable yard that reduces waste
• Identify your personal style and use it to design the garden of your dreams
• Be inspired by the unique styles of other wild and free gardeners
• Access community partners and programs for sourcing both information and materials
• Save seeds and propagate plants for your own use or for a plant swap
• Repurpose furniture, architectural salvage, and hardscaping materials as standout features in your garden
• Grow community projects with neighbors to strengthen bonds while sharing tools and skills
• Collaborate with neighbors to share plant care, build a greenhouse, or set up a rainwater collection system

Stephanie outlines everything you need to implement community projects such as a tool-lending library, seed exchange, or group purchasing club. Plus, find a dozen photo-illustrated step-by-step DIY projects that include building a dry riverbed, a wildflower lawn, and a vintage trailer as a guesthouse.

More than just a gardening book, this is an invitation to join a movement that's cultivating not just plants, but also stronger communities and a more sustainable world; just by stepping outside your door and accessing what is waiting for you.

Author: Stephanie Rose
Publisher: Cool Springs Press
Published: 02/24/2026
Pages: 176
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.18lbs
Size: 9.21h x 7.58w x 0.48d
ISBN: 9781577156390

About the Author
Stephanie Rose is an award-winning author, freelance writer, instructor, and international speaker who aims to encourage better living through plants. Her books include Garden Alchemy and The Regenerative Garden. As a long-time student and teacher of organic gardening, permaculture design, herbalism, and natural skin care formulation, she enjoys inspiring others to learn how to grow and use plants, with a focus on regenerative practices that are green, healthy, and natural. She is a member of Garden Communicators International, the Permaculture Institute of North America, the International Herb Association, and volunteers to develop children's gardens as a Vancouver Master Gardener. She shares stories, recipes, and projects on her inspiring website, GardenTherapy.ca.