Isabel and Lee (and Laurie)
Isabel
My passion is nature and the great outdoors and in gardening I can immerse myself in this love whilst satisfying my creative side. The constantly changing nature of a garden and the continual opportunity to learn leaves me no time to be bored!
In 2001, I made a career change into horticulture and never looked back! Before moving to Somerset I worked as an area manager at the Sir Harold Hillier Gardens and Arboretum in Hampshire. I was responsible for the maintenance and development of around 30 acres of the gardens including the Pond, Bog Garden, Peat Garden, Nepalese Garden and Himalayan Valley, National Collection Glade, woodland areas and meadows. Here I coordinated two assistants, students, work experience children and a team of volunteers in looking after this important plant collection. The job included planting, answering customer queries, pruning trees, shrubs and climbers, mulching, woodland management including scrub clearance, coppicing and care of woodland pigs, maintaining plant records and formulating planting plans, using tractors and horticultural machinery and of course weeding!
Since moving to Somerset in 2010 I have enjoyed looking after a variety of gardens, large and small. I am particularly interested in organic gardening and attracting wildlife into the garden. I have pride in my work and am committed to making gardens look their best.
Lee
I’m an enthusiastic gardener with a passion for garden design, nature & wildlife, organic gardening and vegetable & fruit growing. Whilst studying for a National Diploma in Decorative Horticulture, Landscape Design and Construction at Sparsholt College in Hampshire, I designed and built a garden for The Chelsea Flower Show in 2008 for which I received a silver gilt medal.
For four years I worked as part of a small team maintaining 183 acres of landscaped gardens, ponds and woodland at the Sir Harold Hillier Gardens and Arboretum in Hampshire. I have also participated in the care and design of many gardens in the National Garden Scheme including Itchen Abbas, Meon Orchard, The Olive Garden and Fairthorne Manor in Hampshire.
Since making the move to Somerset in 2010, Isabel and I have enjoyed working in a variety of beautiful gardens and estates. I find the Somerset landscape particularly inspiring and I’m glad that we’ve made this area our home.