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.
Leo
Coming from a family of gardeners, Leo has always been drawn to plants, and at age nine, he won first prize for his dahlias at his local allotment society.
After running a business in London for over a decade, he has recently relocated to Bristol in search of a slower pace and easier access to time outdoors.
Leo has a keen interest in the natural world and is particularly passionate about wildlife-friendly gardening, always on the lookout for ways to support pollinators and boost biodiversity.
When not in the garden, Leo can often be found up a mountain, in a canoe, cycle touring, wild camping, or heading off on backpacking adventures. He’s also a regular at festivals and enjoys creating music on his acoustic guitar.
Pic coming soon!
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 RHS level 2 qualified.
Amber loves to travel and has stories from all around the world, including fighting off a python in Australia!
Charlotte
Pic & Bio coming soon!
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 also RHS level 2 qualified.
She’s a huge fan of nasturtiums, and cooking, especially when it includes what she has grown!
Arpad
After graduating as a “Creative Producer” at Amsterdam Film Academy, Arpi started to save dying plants from film production offices. This habit wasn’t an issue until he could no longer fit into his Budapest flat from all the rescued plants!
Arriving in the south west of England didn’t help his plant addiction since he quickly learned how many more plants he could grow due to the more favourable growing conditions.
During Covid he wrote many scripts and received alarmingly little funds (precisely none!) to produce them, but on the plus side during this time got allocated his long awaited allotment plot. Plus his newly renovated back garden was an empty canvas ready to be filled in with plants. This love of plants has fuelled an ambition for professional gardening and Arpad is now close to completing his RHS level 2 qualification.
Arpad’s love for Films is always there, and these days outside of his days with us at The Gardeners , he’s working as a greensman (dressing sets with organic and artificial plants). Fun fact - Queen Camilla was visiting the film set he was working on recently and they were asked to “polish the turf”!
Pic coming soon!
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.
Ross
Ross’s love for plants can be credited to his parents who both studied and worked in horticulture. Growing up in South Wales and then South Devon, he loves surfing and camping and will happily smile through a solid week without a shower!
He loves to travel and learn about plants around the world. Recently he was in Hawaii for conservation work, getting helicoptered into remote areas to clear out invasive species threatening Hawaiian local flora.
Before joining The Gardeners, Ross was the production manager at a field grown tree nursery where he gained a love for pruning the beautiful, sculptural multistems they specialised in.
For his masters, Ross is modelling how climate change and Ash dieback are affecting UK woodlands
Fun (painful!) fact - he was stung by a sting ray!
Pic coming soon!
Kat
Pic & Bio coming soon!
Emily
Pic & Bio coming soon!
Brontë
Pic & Bio coming soon!