About me

My appreciation of gardens and plants came late, with a change of career around the Millennium, prompted by a love of design and the outdoors that soon evolved into a passion for plants and an appreciation of the wider role of gardens.

While gardens are very personal spaces, and have to work for us, they are also part of the wider environment. Increasingly it seems important that they contribute to tackling, not adding to, the challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss. Good design can create both the beautiful places we want to spend time in, and also tread lightly and provide habitat for other creatures. 

Located in Lincolnshire, but with teaching commitments in Sheffield and a base in Suffolk, I have been designing gardens and advising clients for more than 15 years throughout the East Midlands, and further afield, helping them create their own green havens - everything from large country gardens to small town yards.

In terms of garden design, my focus now is on providing accessible practical and creative advice, via on-site & online consultations and, through running workshops, with the aim of inspiring and enabling people to have a go at creating their own gardens.

Delivering gardens that are as sustainable as possible has always been important to me, and exhibits at RHS Flower Shows have demonstrated my environmental commitment over many years - Hampton Court in 2010 ('Human Nature' – silver-gilt award), Hampton Court in 2009 ('Coppice' – silver award) and Tatton Park in 2006 ('The Function Room' – silver award) - of which you can see and read more in the ‘Projects’ section.

Increasingly, a passion for trees, wild plants and nature also takes me beyond the garden, where I can be found running Winter Tree workshops and plant walks - you will find more information about this in the Wilder Garden section of the website.

As well as managing garden projects and running workshops, I have worked as a garden design lecturer at Nottingham Trent University and expert tutor with Learning with Experts. For several years I worked as a project manager for the BBC series Garden Rescue and have contributed articles to a range of magazines including The Garden and the Garden Design Journal.

I hope you enjoy the website and look forward to hearing from you if you have any questions.