Explore My Services
Plant health & diagnosis
Trees dying back, hedges failing or plants struggling for no obvious reason? As a former DEFRA Plant Health and Seeds Inspector, I assess the plant, its roots, the soil and the wider site together to find the likely cause, and advise on what to do next, including whether laboratory testing is worthwhile. Where it helps, aerial survey shows the pattern of decline across a wider site, so ground investigation can focus where it matters.
Inspection visits from £130.
Historic Garden & Estate Reviews
An established garden that has lost its way, an estate with more to manage than time allows, or hotel grounds that no longer make the impression they should? Drawing on my experience managing Mount Stuart and Kinross House, I provide independent reviews of gardens, estates, hotels and wedding venues, setting out priorities, risks and practical improvements. For historic gardens, I research what was there, using archival material, historic maps and evidence in the landscape, to guide rejuvenation that respects the original design.
Garden advice visits from £130, Garden estate and venue management reviews from £395, with larger or more complex properties quoted individually.
Plantsmanship
Choosing the right plant for a place is the oldest part of this job, and still the part that most often goes wrong: stock specified from a catalogue, planted into conditions it will never tolerate, and replaced three years later. I advise on what will grow in your soil, aspect and exposure, what suits the setting, and what your team can realistically maintain, from herbaceous borders, shrubs and trees to specialist collections, whether that’s a border that has lost its coherence or an arboretum nobody has catalogued in decades.
For Sales & Acquisitions
Independent horticultural assessment can also support the purchase and sale of significant properties, helping prospective purchasers understand the condition and significance of gardens and grounds, and providing informed horticultural input where landscape features need to be described accurately for sale.
Enquiries
Whether it is a planting scheme, a plant health problem, a drone survey or a historic landscape you want to understand better, do get in touch. Tell me a little about the site and what you are trying to achieve, and I will come back to you.