Meet Our Gardeners

Anu Baldwin

“My love of plants and flowers developed from an early age growing up with the smell of frangipani and jasmine, surrounded by a riot of colourful bougainvillea and hibiscus. When we moved to the UK my great aunts and parents influenced me greatly, educating me about the garden and nature. We were expected to tend our veg plots and enjoy the fruits of our labour. Since I’ve had my own family I have tried to instil a love for growing plants in them. Gardeners’ question time and Gardeners’ World are part of my life, I’m an RHS member, I love colour and nothing excites me more than being out in the fresh air.”

Barbara McAleer

I have a great interest in the natural environment. This love comes from my parents, my mother loved wild flowers and my father enjoyed growing vegetables. Other family members and friends have also enhanced my knowledge of plants. I studied a correspondence course in gardening and have gained additional knowledge from both the local horticultural society and the Royal horticultural society.

The softening of our buildings with gardens I believe is important to our wellbeing. Plants can bring so much colour into our lives. My garden is a small garden with fruit trees and bushes. My front garden is all in containers and has a naturalistic theme. I am trying to build up my collection of herb plants.

Helping friends with their gardens has given me understanding of how to fit in with our people’s gardening tastes.

Brenda Cross

I’ve always loved working in my garden – the great outdoors! Working hard to achieve a space which I can then relax in and feel proud of the hard work I’ve put in to enjoy it. I’m a self-taught gardener and my earliest memories of gardening are ‘taking care’ of my parents’ round and rectangular privet hedges. I love the look of carefully trimmed hedges, a weed-free colourful flower bed and neat lawn edges.

I’ve recently enjoyed constructing a woodland path. I find structure pleasing in the garden, by way of shape, height and form. Every garden is different and has the potential to make it a magical space!

Caroline Sturge

“I have loved plants, flowers and gardens since I was a child, but ‘real’ gardening began for me when we moved to our current house, 25 years ago. Recently I made the decision to give up the legal profession so as to spend my time in the outdoors. My garden is a bit of a challenge, mainly due to surrounding trees casting shade and taking moisture out of the soil. Over the years I have become an expert in finding the right plants for difficult places and now enjoy putting that knowledge to use in other people’s gardens. An aspiring ‘good-lifer’, I keep hens in the garden and a small flock of sheep locally. My allotment, which I have run for over 15 years, produces vegetables, soft fruit and (increasingly) flowers for cutting so for part of the year we are almost self-sufficient. Planting, pruning, weeding and propagation are my favourite gardening tasks and a good mulch of compost provides the finishing touch.”

Irene Sutlieff

I became interested in gardening about 10 years ago. My late husband had “green fingers” and the joy he got from growing his own vegetables soon became mine. The pleasure you get from growing your own seeds, tending and watching the seedlings grow then enjoying the fruits of your labour is truly fantastic.

Gardening is a joy that I have found later in life but I am so grateful that I have. I believe that your garden is a space for you to get so much enjoyment from. Planting and working outside, the world seems to stop and any stresses from the day disappear.

Jackie Tetley

“I grew up with two gardening-obsessed parents on a 1.5 acre sandy, sloping plot which they developed over 40+ years. I’d roam around searching for wildflowers, making dens in the giant rhododendron and slipping into the greenhouse for a cheeky tomato!

After spending more than 20 years working indoors on computers, I gave up resisting my genetics and started studying RHS Level 2, while undertaking garden and nursery work, plus a work experience placement at RHS Wisley.

I’ve always loved experimenting in my own garden, and currently have a cottage garden feel punctuated with unmown wild sections, a mini wildlife pond and fruit and veg areas.”

Jenny Goodhand

“I’m an enthusiastic gardener and love spending time outdoors. I have developed my ‘unusable’ allotment and ‘never before touched’ garden into thriving paradises with fruit, vegetables, herbs and flowers. I have spent many years volunteering with The National Trust and with Surrey Wildlife Trust in hands-on countryside management and am keen to further my passion in this field. My parents are excellent gardeners who are almost self sufficient, which has given me a good insight into dealing with plants from a young age.”

Julia Taylor

“I am a keen gardener and adore gardening and spending time outdoors. My favourite jobs are weeding, tidying and planting. I have a real passion for plants and am lucky enough to have a mother in law who is an experienced gardener and I have learnt a lot from her.”

Julia has been with us for five years and is a much loved member of the team as well as an extremely knowledgeable gardener. Over the last couple of years Julia has taken on the responsibility of mentoring our newest members of the team. This not only ensures that our standards remain high but also that new team members start in their own client gardens with confidence. She continues to be a regular gardener for 6 happy clients too!

Karen Clay

“Gardening has been a passion of Karen’s for years. Karen enjoys maintaining gardens and the satisfaction of looking back over what she has done.”

Lucy Palmer

I was blessed to grow up playing and gardening in a beautiful Irish walled garden. My mother passed on her love of all things horticultural. Experiencing the joy that my own garden has brought me these past 19 years, I hope to share my passion and further my training. I’ve propagated plants for several charitable sales, I’m a volunteer gardener at a local school and feel so convinced of the therapeutic values of gardening that it should be part of the national curriculum! Our outdoor spaces now need more than ever to nourish and delight, whilst being an invaluable place for all living creatures to flourish. Lucy is the newest member of our Surrey Gardeners’ team.