My Story

It started when me and my husband took on an allotment at St Anns in 2004. We lived a ten minute walk away, and spent most of our weekends building our lovely plot - bringing a previously unloved site back into production. As we learned, we took on a second plot, installing a polytunnel, pond and small orchard. It became a beautiful, bountiful plot. I also undertook an extended certificate in Horticulture at night school with Ecoworks in Nottingham.

Five years ago we decided to move and on our wishlist was to try and find a plot of land of our own to have our food production on our doorstep and ideally a pond. After searching for a few months, we found a large 1/3 of an acre garden attached to a bungalow! We have been shaping and developing the site from a conifer heavy, bramble filled jungle, into a series of defined spaces and beautiful beds. We have put in 12 fruit trees, built a 20' x 10' greenhouse, an allotment and composting bays. We have restored the sheds and built new structures to make the most of our views.

With help of the wonderful Mike and Paul from Pev's Paving, we have built a large patio, curved path, retaining walls and raised beds.

Gardening is my absolute passion. I love taking bulbs, seeds and cuttings and growing things from scratch. As a veg grower, I have my own spuds, tomatoes and onions for months on end. I love the taste of apricots and greengages fresh from the tree. I love watching the foxes playing in the long grass, the unexpected ducks landing on our pond, the greenfinches polishing off the verbena seeds in winter and plump spring bulbs erupting in March all the way through to early summer.

I garden organically without chemicals, utilising my own wormery produced fertiliser and peat free compost - reducing and recycling wherever I can. I'm very inspired by the work of Christopher Lloyd who designed the magical gardens at Great Dixter. He said:

"When we garden, we become co-creators with nature, shaping and enhancing the world around us."

In February 2021, I took redundancy and decided to embark on a new journey as a full time gardener which was daunting but very liberating. I have been supported on my journey by lots of customers and organisations, particularly Pulp Friction, an organisation that works with adults with learning disabilities and autism. I loved working alongside the members from 2021 - 2024. I also could not have made this career change without the unwavering support of Tricky, my husband and partner in crime.

I really enjoy everything I do - maintaining other people's gardens, planning, the odd bit of teaching and growing plants for sale.

Team work

As my business has grown, I have regularly worked alongside a great group of other local gardeners and trades

Jo Stafford - Gardener

Cain Sherwin - Gardener

Andy Callow - Sherwood Garden Consultancy - Garden Designer

Mike Peverill - Pev's Paving - Landscaping

I also work alongside a wonderful group of volunteers from Nottingham Organic Gardeners at the QMC Tranquility garden.