The Pothole Gardener project is all about creating unexpected moments of happiness. My little gardens are a respite from the greyness of London. People read all sorts of things into my gardens when they try and rationalise them - something I'm fascinated with, and I've made various films about that.
I don't generally garden on the road, only on the footpaths (I'm not completely mad) and apart from keeping safe, the only rule of pothole gardening is I don't ever use figures in my gardens. I use a lot of miniatures as part of the project, and as a big part of my work is inspiring peoples imaginations and I find leaving scenes helps provoke the audience.
The project all started as part of my Masters in Design at Central Saint Martins and my first book, The Little Book of Little Gardens, was published by Dokument Press late in 2012. I've had a lot written about my work and I've put together a little press page here.
People from all around the world have created pothole gardens, and I post them on the blog. I've now had so many submissions, I've started a dedicated page with some of my favourite submitted gardens.
You can find more of my work at www.stevewheen.com - I'm also the Master Distiller at The Distillery - www.thedistillery.tv where I produce social video content.
If you want to get in touch, drop me a mail: thepotholegardener@yahoo.com
All tagged gardening
London has been Jubilee crazy over the past few weeks! I decided to create my own little celebration of the Queen's 60 year reign with a special little garden outside the Dalston Curve as part of the Chelsea Fringe. And, someone close to the Queen turned up! Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall lent a hand finishing off the garden...
I think every post on this blog to date has included a garden or two. This post is a little bit different. One of the things I really enjoy about my gardening adventures is the different reactions people have to my gardens. Most people enjoy them and take them in the way I intended, but not everyone.
On my recent outing with Stephanie, we created this little bundle of colour outside A and B Tyres, much to the amusement of the owner.
Yesterday I posted some snaps of my Wimbledon garden - as promised here is a short video that Tom and I put together featuring a squirrel and pigeon who were very interested in what we were doing!
Wimbledon kicks off tomorrow. Happy memories of queuing, eating strawberries and sipping champagne spring to mind. As a big Wimbledon fan myself (I spent a day in queue a few years back) I decided to create a wee garden to celebrate the start of this fantastic tournament.
A while back I experimented with my first "wall garden". Here's my second attempt (pictures just in, thanks to Stephanie Wolff). A colourful array of Pansies have brightened up this little hole which has made the perfect pot. I think it works really well with the graffiti on the wall.
Growing up in Australia, my childhood memories are chock full of adventures at the clothes line. On my recent outing with Stephanie Wolff, I created this little clothes line garden complete with pegs, clothes basket, a fork and a spade.
While Chelsea flower show might be in full swing (my invite is obviously still in the mail...) so are my little gardens. I headed out today with my friend Stephanie Wolff from London Insight, to create some little beauties.
Here's my latest little garden. It's a little bit different to my other Garden's as there's no mini-furniture, or even flowers (I know it's not the prettiest but it has a purpose!). I've been inspired by recent projects such as The Green Line and Landshare, and so decided to create a mini-vegetable patch.
I headed out last weekend for some more gardening - this time with journalist Hanna Welin. Here are the results, enjoy!
This morning I headed over to Pimlico. Now for those of you who know me, to date my pothole gardens have mainly been around East London. So why Pimlico I hear you ask...
I was recently sent this picture along with the note: Whilst driving on Mexico's Yucatan highway 261 between Dzibalchen and Xpuhil in the Campeche region we hit this massive pothole.
o this morning as I was heading off with some serious colours under my arm and I was checking off everything in my head. Plants, check...camera, check...sense of humour, check...bum crack, check...photographer from the Evening Standard, what the?
After dreaming up this project for a couple of weeks ago, this week's sunshine has finally inspired me to begin this project, and get gardening!
