This year I am celebrating 51 years in horticulture!

I started as an apprentice gardener at Inverewe Gardens in the North West coast of Scotland with The National Trust for Scotland and went on to work at The Royal Horticultural Society‘s Garden, Wisley, Kew Gardens and Hampton Court Palace Garden. I also spent a year working on nurseries in Holland.

I studied at Somerset College of Agriculture and Horticulture, Cannington, for two years and then studied for three years at The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.

I worked for the Parks Department of the London Borough of Croydon as their Horticultural Officer and then moved to the London Borough of Redbridge as Assistant Parks Manager, subsequently becoming their Chief Recreation Manager.

I have written for a number of publications including The English Garden magazine and The Metro.

I am currently the Secretary and a judge with the London Gardens Society which includes London’s Squares, Bexley in Bloom and London Alms-houses. I am a former judge with “South and South East In Bloom” a part of Britain in Bloom.

I am a keen photographer and have thousands of digital photographs of plants and gardens for use in my talks and lectures.