My journey into horticulture began in 2018 when I was granted my first allotment plot by the local council and suddenly everything I loved fell into place on that patch of borrowed land.

I've since completed the RHS Certificate in the Principles of Horticulture (RBGE), short courses in Sustainable Woodland Management and Horticultural Therapy and I'm currently studying towards my Permaculture Design Certificate.

Between 2020 to 2022 I worked for Flourish Gardens North East as part of the maintenance and planting team, maintaining both residential and commercial gardens. In late 2022, I decided to leave the team to focus on my own work, to further develop my portfolio and utilise my other skills as part of my business.

Due to my own physical limitations I avoid the use of some powered hand tools whilst working in the garden, such as electric hedge trimmers and strimmers. Using non-powered tools sometimes takes a little longer but there are some advantages to this;

• cutting with non-powered tools generally produces a cleaner cut, leaving the plant less vulnerable to pathogen invasion

• reduced noise and air pollution

• a lower negative impact on the environment - this is an important part of my business ethos. In garden redesigns, I will always try and utilise as much of the existing material on a site as possible to reduce this impact and will always try to upcycle or rehome unwanted materials to community gardens in Newcastle Upon Tyne.

  Being in the garden has numerous physical and mental health benefits and sharing those benefits with as many people as possible, by making gardens more enjoyable, manageable and accessible is really important to me.

  To find out more about the work I do, you can follow me on Instagram.