The Gardeners in Bristol and North Somerset
James, Founder & Managing Director
James got his first gardening job at the age of 15 and went on to study horticulture at Bicton in Devon. He has now amassed over 25 years experience in the horticulture industry.
James has international horticultural experience having held gardening and landscaping positions in Australia and the United States. He also project managed a medal winning urban show garden at the prestigious RHS Chelsea Flower Show.
Now a Dad of three energetic boys and MD of The Gardeners, there’s never a dull moment!…but in those rare moments of downtime, hiking, wild camping and bushcraft in the woods and mountains are his favourite passtimes. He’s a self confessed plant geek and a bit obsessed with ferns and fungi! (oh and West Ham United!)
He also, once upon a time, ate 33 pancakes to win a charity pancake eating competition!
Steve, Maintenance Director
Steve was introduced to gardening at an early age through his parents who started a gardening business when he was 10 years old. As he was too young (and not to be trusted!) to be left alone, he would often accompany them during school holidays and weekends, learning vital horticultural skills and business lessons along the way. He then went on to study horticulture through an apprenticeship at Bristol Zoological Gardens before teaming up with James working the beautiful grounds and gardens of Badminton school.
Steve has a creative brain and would often write stories and poems growing up. He loves listening to a good audiobook or podcast, especially learning about business. He enjoys attending gigs, running and going on long hikes in Wales with his wife and their Labrador.
He’s also a big fan of an all inclusive holiday and Kevin Hart’s stand up comedy, but thoroughly dislikes musicals, the wind and chickpeas!
Tracey, Finance Manager
Finance Manager Tracey has over 30 years experience in professional financial management. With a "system" for pretty much everything, her exemplary administrative skills help to ensure the smooth 'behind the scenes' operations of our ambitious and growing company.
Tracey absolutely loves live music and regularly attends cover band shows, most recently ABBA! She’s also the proud owner of a camper van and enjoys the freedom of regular trips away whenever possible with her family and little dog Bella.
Fletcher
Team Manager and Senior Gardener, Fletcher, has been working in horticulture for over 9 years. Following a level 2 apprenticeship, he spent 6 of those years cutting his gardening teeth on a stunning private estate in Ross-on-Wye.
Previous experiences have seen Fletcher assist with the construction of a gold medal winning show garden at the RHS Malvern Spring Show.
Outside of gardening Fletcher is a keen guitarist and has played in various bands. He also loves watching live music at gigs and festivals. And as you can see from the photo, his rather magnificent beard has put the rest of our facial hair efforts to shame!
LOUISE
Senior Gardener Louise joined The Gardeners in early 2022 and has an RHS L2 Certificate in the Principles of Plant Growth and Development from the University of Bristol Botanic Gardens.
Alongside her role as one of our Senior Gardeners, Louise also manages our social media pages, showing the world our amazing work and team, as well as sharing plant knowledge from the whole team to help customers in their gardens.
A keen festival goer and camper, Louise is well acquainted with embracing the elements and loves the variety the British weather brings us!
Huw
Growing up in rural Somerset, Senior Gardener Huw developed a love for nature early on, spending his free time exploring the countryside and watching nature documentaries.
Huw has a keen interest in ecology and rewilding, and attended a course at Knepp Estate, the pioneering rewilding and regenerative farming project, to learn more about reviving natural systems and boosting wildlife populations.
Huw keeps a running list of his favourite plants for his future garden based on which has the most enticing fragrance, the list includes Heliotrope marine, Philadelphus and Osmanthus heterophyllus 'Purpureus'.
He recently spent five incredible months in New Zealand, traveling by camper van and photographing wildlife.
Tom
Senior Gardener Tom made a career change in 2019 and naturally found his way to gardening through a love of being outdoors. He is now RHS Level 2 qualified.
Before moving to Bristol, Tom spent time living on a narrowboat in London, and covered it in flowers and vegetables - something which was totally impractical but drew many admiring comments from passersby.
Tom also plays the drums, carves wooden spoons and is a big fan of supernatural horror.
Amber
Amber discovered her love of gardening through renovating her own garden at home as well as working at her farm in Hungary that is filled with fruit trees. Another fan of foraging, Amber is always on the lookout for medicinal herbs to make balms and tinctures, as well as interesting mushrooms that she can cook up.
Amber is the Lead Gardener at Badminton School, a site we have been lovingly working on since 2007, and is currently completing her RHS level 2.
Amber loves to travel and has stories from all around the world, including fighting off a python in Australia!
Lily
Our first team member with an actual botanical name! Lily has had an outdoor lifestyle from a very early age having grown up on a small holding. She’s passionate about sustainably grown flowers and names Foxgloves, Delphiniums and Dahlias as particular favourites for their height and structure. Her grandparents were keen gardeners who had allotments specifically for growing Dahlias. She recently transformed half an acre of land from brambles to a veggie and flower haven.
As well as being an RHS level 2 qualified gardener, Lily’s professional experience ranges from private self employed gardening to working as an ecologist. Having spent a year in Canada, she loves hiking and skiing in the mountains, but also simply exploring walks around Bristol, preferably with a cuppa in hand!
Lucy
Another gardener who was inspired by their family, Lucy grew up gardening with her mum and aunt who are both keen gardeners. She went to Brighton to study Sociology but soon after graduating realised she wanted to start her career in gardening,
Lucy completed a City and Guilds Practical Horticulture course and moved to London to start working in private gardens before moving back to her hometown of Bristol to continue gardening. She is now completing her RHS level 2.
She’s a huge fan of nasturtiums, and cooking, especially when it includes what she has grown!
Órla
After completing a degree in Town Planning, Órla decided to specialise in Garden Design when she got the gardening bug whilst working in a plant nursery. She is now studying for a Masters degree in Landscape Architecture with dreams of becoming a Garden Designer so famous that she can get a regular spot on Gardeners World.
Órla loves to learn new plant Latin names and test out her tree knowledge by identifying all the trees in our customers’ gardens.
Órla has always loved being outside and was a cheap child as her favourite toy was mud! She loves to grow things for free from cuttings and from seeds she has collected.
Jonah
Jonah has always worked outside, helping his dad as part of the family gardening business as a child. He has worked on a variety of gardens, grounds and woodlands throughout his career, including the historic Horniman Museum and Gardens in London.
Alongside his work in horticulture, Jonah spends his summers working at various festivals across the UK doing stage support and working as an artist liaison. He is a keen DJ and has played at festivals including Glastonbury Festival, Boomtown and Shambala.
Kieran
Kieran has dabbled in gardening since he was just a lad, but has spent the past three years pursuing it as a full time career.
His other passions include sound design and game audio and he often spends his evenings making new tracks using sounds he records. Kieran lived in Amsterdam for two years working for Netflix and developing a healthy addiction to coffee.
Kieran’s a big fan of purple spiky plants like Echinops, Eryngium and giant Alliums.
Joe
Joe loves wildlife, birdwatching and gardening for biodiversity. His favourite plant changes all the time as he keeps learning new ones, but anything with orange flowers always catch his eye: Calendula, California poppies and Berberis.
Joe spent four years living and working in Berlin and speaks German, as well as Spanish. He’s a keen cyclist and competes in long-distance cycle races across Europe. Last year he cycled 600km over 39 hours across Yorkshire in one go!
He has a degree in mechanical engineering from Bristol Uni and prior to living in Berlin, spent four years here partly studying, partly racing mountain bikes, and partly going to dnb nights at Motion.
Pete
Pete has held a variety of horticultural and grounds maintenance roles for over ten years and is RHS level 2 qualified. His gardening journey has taken him from rural cottages to historic city Cemeteries (Arnos Vale) and Rainforest estates in Australia.
He’s fascinated by the tiny little creatures that live in our gardens and greatly enjoys observing them while working.
Pete’s life is a balance of outdoor work and studio time, as he’s also committed to music production under the artist name Titus Twelve, presenting and producing radio shows for Noods FM and SWU plus forming and running the fantastically creative and unique music label that is Limbo Tapes.