Simple. Let the garden be. Nothing unnecessary. No over-crowding. No confusion. Plants that want to be together, growing together. Minimal structure. Soft transitions. Gentle curves. Don’t try and take the garden with you. Follow it. Lend your self to a place for a while and grow with it. It will soon reflect you.

Natural. Leave things as they are, if you can. Where you must intervene, do so lightly. Minimal power-tools and chemicals. Use what you already have. Accept that you will not master it and open yourself to change. Learn to wait and wait to learn. A garden is not natural, but gardening is.

Beautiful. The soul at rest. The question posed by the fact of our existence, silenced. We spend our lives forgetting what the beautiful helps us remember. The garden is somewhere to be nowhere. It draws us out. The garden surrounds us, but really it’s inside. Make a place beautiful. Be restful there. This is enough.

About me. I have been a gardener for over 20 years, in one form or another. My dad was a gardener and I spent my school holidays helping him. Then I had a break to go to university before joining a small gardening company in London. After 7 years with them I was managing maintenance teams and overseeing large landscaping projects alongside an in-house garden designer. Another break to travel brought me to Birmingham, where I now live and work having set up my own business.

About my work. I like to think of myself as a 'proper gardener'. I don't turn up with an assortment of machines and beat the garden into submission leaving it tidy, but sterile. This sort of gardening is fine for a supermarket carpark, but not for a space where people live.

A garden is a living place that is constantly evolving. The object of gardening, for me, is not control, but guidance. This is why I don't offer a 'garden makeover' service. Change in a garden should occur at the same pace at which gardens naturally evolve. This allows me to reveal the individual nature of each garden discovering things that would otherwise be trampled by heavy-handed treatment.

Moving at a natural pace means allowing nature to take the lead. This philosophy leads to an acceptance of wild flowers and plants and a respect for the 'decisions' that nature makes on our behalf. I don't leave everything to grow wild, but I don't remove everything either.

I can also build fences, decking and other garden structures if needed; though this isn't my main occupation.

About cost. For regular garden maintenance I charge £18 per hour.

Waste removal is charged for separately and the cost will depend on how much waste has to be removed.

Other work is quoted for on a per-job basis, depending on the nature of the work.