A love of plants, passed down
My grandfather, Gilbert H. Curtis, grew red geraniums on the balcony of the Robin Hood pub in Sydenham Road, sharing his passion for plants with the community that passed below. It's a small detail, but it's stayed with me.
A love of growing things, of the particular pleasure of watching something flourish in the right conditions, runs in this family.
I've been gardening for most of my life. The garden I tend at home in Guildford has been in my family for decades, inherited from my parents, and shaped over forty years into something I'm genuinely proud of. In 2025, it was named Best in Competition at the Guildford in Bloom awards. I open it to visitors through the National Garden Scheme each year, with proceeds going to charities including Marie Curie and Macmillan Cancer Support.
That garden has taught me more than any qualification could. But the qualifications matter too. I'm RHS qualified in the Principles and Practices of Horticulture, and everything I've learned through study and through decades of practical experience informs how I approach every project I take on.
What drives the work
I'm not interested in gardens that look impressive for a season and then quietly deteriorate. I'm interested in gardens that get better with time. Ones where the soil improves year on year, where wildlife returns and stays, where the planting evolves and settles into something that feels like it belongs exactly where it is.
That takes patience, knowledge, and a genuine commitment to working with nature rather than against it. It's what I bring to every garden I work in, whatever its size or condition.
I work across Guildford and the surrounding Surrey countryside. If you'd like to talk about your garden, I'd be glad to hear from you.
