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I come from a farming and market gardening background
in West Cornwall and have always been interested
in gardening and country matters.
I obtained a H.N.D. in Commercial Horticulture
at Writtle Agricultural College, Essex in 1976,
after which I spent a couple of years as a foreman
on a glasshouse nursery in Sussex growing sweet
peppers by Nutrient Film Technique (hydroponics).
Then I spent a couple of years in Saudi Arabia
as area manager of large scale landscaping projects.
Returning home to Cornwall in the early 1980`s I
became head gardener of Enys, a historically important
Cornish garden that had suffered decades of neglect
and was in a comparable state to Heligan when discovered
by Tim Smit.
After 14 years of almost single-handed restoration
and replanting I took up the position of kitchen
garden foreman at the Lost Gardens of Heligan in
1996. In early 1997 I became head gardener and became
responsible for a staff of 22 gardeners who were
in the process of restoring the horticultural practices
and techniques of the Victorian era.
During my time as head gardener we developed
the cropping plans and annual routines in the vegetable
and cut flower gardens and various glasshouses and
frames.
We also managed to grow the first crop of pineapples
at Heligan for over a century using eighteenth century
technology in the manure heated pineapple pits.
We also developed the ornamental grounds bringing
them back to a state of care that would have been
recognisable to the gardeners of old.
Prior to my leaving in 2000 I help set up the
farming and wildlife project encompassing the wider
estate to show that the countryside can be farmed
and managed in a sustainable way to the benefit
of those living and working in the country and of
wildlife and the environment.
Since 2000 I have been working for myself as
a garden designer, landscaper and consultant. Being
self-employed I have taken on a wide range of projects
from garden clearances to design and plant of both
modern and traditional gardens.
Although much of my past experience involved
historic woodland gardens I have had an interest
in seaside gardens since living in Penzance as a
youngster and have designed and planted several
over the past few years.


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