Inheriting a new garden or having a garden designed can be a stressful situation, particularly if you yourself are not ‘green-fingered’. Even if you are a keen gardener you may not always have the time or the inclination to tackle some of the more demanding tasks required annually.

Variously described, depending on who you ask, as either a ‘wonderful peripatetic head gardener’ or a ‘jack of all trades master of none’, I prefer to describe myself as a practical garden consultant, combining horticultural knowledge with a willingness to get my hands dirty.

Unlike the majority of horticultural consultants, I am not an aspiring garden designer and so my impartial advice does not lead to expensive replanting or redesign work. In fact, the majority of my time is spent working directly with established architects and designers to tailor practical solutions to various horticultural and design problems. My work regularly includes the following;

•Restoration and rejuvenation of existing elements within the garden, such as pruning roses and orchards as well as contract clipping and the re establishment of topiary and hedging elements.

•Introduction and establishment of new elements within the garden. I regularly source and oversee the planting of large scale plant specimens from across Europe. I also regularly train fruit and other species to form features within the garden.

•Teaching. I undertake of number of courses throughout the year both privately and for others across the UK. Also, a lot of my time is spent mentoring other gardeners, both professional and amateur. This can be as a one-off exercise to guide an individual through a particular task such as training fruit or pruning topiary. It can also be a longer term arrangement, working with an individual on a two-weekly or monthly basis throughout the year and beyond. This can be extremely useful for more inexperienced gardener and in particular those who have recently had their gardens redesigned and maybe expected to care for a much wider plant palette than they had previously.

•Reporting. I am often asked simply for garden advice such as pest and disease problems, health problems or how best to manage new or existing gardens. This can be as simple as a few hours informal question and answer session while walking around the garden or can be a written document or management plan to work with over future seasons.

The original Gardener’s Assistant was a series of books written towards the end of the nineteenth century, included in which were numerous volumes of practical and scientific horticultural advice which were considered the horticultural bible of the Victorian age. My aim is to give you this range and breadth of knowledge in an easily accessible format for those gardening in the early twenty first century.