Horticulture, gardening and garden design have been threads running through my family for generations. I grew up on an organic smallholding with my own patch of vegetable and ornamental flower garden. Plants, wildlife, outdoor exploration and drawing were my early interests, and led to an education focused around art, design, biology and physical geography.
After studying an Art and Design Foundation course, I was inspired to apply for a Garden Design Degree course, based at Capel Manor Horticultural College. Studying under the expert tuition of some of the country’s top designers, including Jill Billington and David Stephens, with input from the likes of Cleve West, I achieved First Class Honours at graduation. My work was selected for the Young Designers of the Year Exhibition in Islington.
In 1998 I returned to Norfolk to set up my garden design and build company.
Further to graduation, the quality of my degree submission won me a scholarship for further part-time studies at The English Garden School, based at the Chelsea Physic Garden, on the Plants and Plantsmanship course with Jill Alexander and Roy Lancaster. In 2003 I designed and built a garden which won Best in Show and a gold medal from the Royal Horticultural Society.
I have been studying and designing gardens for over twenty years.
I live with my wife Tess, and two sons, Solomon and Amos, in a straw bale house, self built in 2006, which won a CPRE award for sustainable design. The timber framed dwelling was built without using any cement or concrete, with the footings made traditionally using lime and flints, and lime rendered straw bale walls. We have solar thermal panels and the design of the building maximises solar gain in winter, while keeping it cool in summer. The primary source of heating is a wood burner. We have large vegetable gardens, chickens and a small part of the extensive woods that our property backs onto.
