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 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
Senior Gardener, Fletcher, has been working in horticulture for over 8 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 local 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!
KIAN
Senior Gardener Kian was quite literally, born in the Abbey House Gardens of Malmesbury; a 5.5 acre botanical garden which his parents, Ian and Barbara Pollard, created from scratch.
A young Kian watched the garden develop into a beautiful paradise which became a world famous tourist attraction as his parents also donned the names “The Naked Gardeners”. In 2015 it became Kian’s time to run the establishment with the help of his brother; where the two of them quickly learned the skills needed for garden management and maintenance of a high calibre.
Kian is also an actor and has performed in touring Shakespearian shows around the country. He is also always up for a good chat about fantasy worlds, his favourite being Middle Earth!
Lily
Our first team member with an actual botanical name! Senior Gardener 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!
Greg
Our Senior Gardener Greg, was inspired to garden by his Mum and Grandma. They had him busy dead heading the roses and potting on seedlings from an early age! He’s now been gardening professionally for 10 years.
Another massive fan of the great outdoors, Greg was once a high ropes instructor. He loves a good forage for wild food and recently posted a photo in our group chat of the risotto he cooked with some wild Oyster mushrooms! He enjoys getting in the sea for a swim or a surf, but his favourite non gardening activity has to be spinning poi especially when they’re on fire!
…and he once won a pumpkin growing contest. It took 4 men to lift the beast!
ANA
Senior Gardener Ana has been gardening for 14 years and is RHS level 2 qualified. She tells us that she really got into gardening when her Dad passed away, who was mad on it, as was his brother, so it seems to run in the family!
Ana loves nature and how nature works to rid us of our horticultural problems if we take the time to listen to it! A keen grower, she grows as much of her own veg as possible and enjoys feeding the numerous variety of birds that are attracted into her garden.
Ana also loves camping and taking her Labrador Betty out for long walks around the local woods.
LOUISE
Louise joined The Gardeners in early 2022 and is currently studying RHS L2 Certificate in the Principles of Plant Growth and Development at the University of Bristol Botanic Gardens.
Alongside her role as one of our 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!
Tom
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 loves to travel and has stories from all around the world, including fighting off a python in Australia!
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.