He has a complete affinity with nature and even his voice echoes the beauty and tranquillity of the trees, the shrubs, the flowers and the whole world of nature, he so cherishes.

His earliest memories of his childhood are of playing on huge green lawns, of walking through dappled sunlit gardens, of the scent of honey suckle and of eating sweet pears; these early memories further include his growing vegetables in perfect rows, his planting of marigolds and lupins from seed packets, his making miniature gardens in old sinks and his endless blocking up of ditches and streams.

Since his childhood, his perception and affiliation with nature has enabled him to recreate these vistas on a microcosmic scale, in the gardens of his clients. These gardens, once completed, always appear as through they have been established for a long time and not the new gardens, which realistically, they are.

Unless requested otherwise, he arranges the planting in each garden to provide all year interest with the minimum of care and maintenance.

This he achieves by a mixture of architectural and traditional plants. He takes his clients with him and jointly they carefully choose his recommended trees, climbers, shrubs and perennials. His emphasis is always on interesting leaf textures, leaf colours, scented plants and different season flowerings.

When asked recently to supply a list of his favourite or preferred plants, his answer was quite simply “how many stars are in the sky”. He forms a new planting scheme for each project and selects the plants best suited to his client, the intended garden and the existing surrounds.

He also stated recently how one of his greatest advantages has been to have had so many excellent clients, all of whom he remembers individually and many of whom he still visits. He has requested that their many kindnesses to himself and his team be remembered and thanked via these columns; he also looks forward to welcoming new clients this year to ‘the world of Belsize Landscapes’.