Meet Our Gardeners

Pippa Beeson

Pippa has over 35 years experience in horticulture and agriculture, ranging from soft landscaping to general garden maintenance.

She is loyal, trustworthy and hard working and studies any garden as the whole, working with the surrounding environment and learning from the soil and plants. She thoroughly enjoy the results from composting and pruning .

Pippa specialises in medium to large gardens as year round work is important to her and is happy to work on her own, Pippa has been with Grayshaw and Yeo for over 10 years.

Philip Tanner-Tremaine

I have always loved being outside and my passion for gardening began when we purchased our first home. A 200ft, long thin garden on a steep hill – it was a challenging start, but it ignited my passion for creating and evolving gardens. Fast-forward 20 years, I am experienced in hard and soft landscaping, garden maintenance and am also an avid grow-you-own gardener.

I love all aspects of gardening, from routine maintenance, weeding and pruning, to more creative projects. I have also been involved in several garden clearance projects, creating a blank canvas on which to create a new space.

Sally Kember

I love to spend time in nature, and feel that gardens are food for the soul. Gardening has been a hobby of mine for many years. I’ve helped to keep my family’s gardens looking great as well as my own, even helping my dad with his vegetable plot when I was really young. I’m trained as an artist, with a degree in illustration and I love to paint natural forms, so my art complements my love of gardening. It’s a privilege to be able to help to make other people’s gardens a place that is relaxing and therapeutic for them.

Suvi Jarvis

My interest in horticulture was first sparked when I moved to Cornwall as an art student. There were so many different plants and lovely gardens around the area and the natural landscape was so inspiring that I then swiftly changed career paths and enrolled at a Horticultural college. After gaining my qualifications in 2008 I have gained experience in many areas but most notably at The Eden project, Glendurgan Gardens (NT), RBG Kew and The Barbican Center. My other interests are permaculture, organic farming and I love growing veggies and herbs in my garden. Gardening is a big part of my life and I am happiest outside being active and making gardens look lovely

Rowena Munn

My love of gardening stems from my parents whose garden was always immaculate. Being outdoors and watching a garden change with the seasons is a joy and it gives me great satisfaction as an unruly plot becomes a thing of beauty and order.

Kelly Waddell

My gardening adventure began with our first home and the opportunity to create a garden from scratch. Since then I’ve taken on an established cottage garden and am now rehabilitating old herbaceous beds.

Kelly is also part of our specialist planting team – happily being drafted in to plant up gardens to the designer’s specification. She has also had lots of experience planting at RHS Shows with our sister company Inspired Earth Design in 2022 and 2023 – helping the team achieve 2 Gold Medals!

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.

Jessica Pybus

I have always been drawn to the outdoors, and gardens in particular. From visiting National Trust gardens with my parents, hanging out at my local florist after school, or holidaying in the countryside. It is the impact that gardens can have on us that I am particularly passionate about, whether they be a place of inspiration, energy or respite.

Developing my own garden was the catalyst for me changing careers after 10 years and retraining in RHS Level 2. Since then I have had the pleasure of designing, building and maintaining gardens for friends, family and neighbours which cover everything from a container kitchen garden of fruits and vegetables, to mixed borders with topiary, naturalistic perennials, and child / pet friendly lawn maintenance.

As part of the volunteer gardening team at Winkworth Arboretum I have also gained great confidence and experience in caring for trees.

My artistic background means I also love any aspect of garden design, whether that be redesigning a small border through to full on transformations.

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 been responsible for mentoring our newest team members. 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 six happy clients too!

Julia is part of our specialist planting team – happily being drafted in to plant up gardens to the designer’s specification. She has also had lots of experience planting at RHS Shows with our sister company Inspired Earth Design in 2022 and 2023 – helping the team achieve 2 Gold Medals!

Cammie Czuchnicki

I have always been passionate about plants, having enjoyed gardening from an early age. Weekend trips to the garden centre with my parents were always so exciting and I used to love helping my Dad plant up the beds and borders in our garden at home.

Spending time in my own garden has taught me many essential gardening skills. I love to grow plants from seed as well as propagating many from cuttings. I enjoy growing vegetables and I’m an enthusiastic forager, having collected and dried wild mushrooms for many years.

In summer 2021 I completed my RHS Level 2 Diploma and have since studied for the Level 3 Practical certificate. Alongside this, I work part-time with a local garden designer, helping with planting and putting together planting plans for some wonderful gardens in Surrey.

Cammie is part of our specialist planting team – happily being drafted in to plant up gardens to the designer’s specification. She has also had lots of experience planting at RHS Shows with our sister company Inspired Earth Design in 2022 and 2023 – helping the team achieve 2 Gold Medals!

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.

Jenny is also part of our specialist planting team – happily being drafted in to plant up gardens to the designer’s specification. She has also had lots of experience planting at RHS Shows with our sister company Inspired Earth Design in 2022 and 2023 – helping the team achieve 2 Gold Medals!

Sandra Martin

My mother instilled a love of gardening in me from a young age, I always helping with weeding and deadheading. Since moving to Surrey from a South London flat over ten years ago, I’ve found such joy in reshaping my own garden. I love it all, from alliums to zinnias – with a penchant for spring bulbs. I love experiencing the seasons through gardening and seeing longterm plans come to fruition. I’m a media professional in a career change phase and will commence my horticultural studies at College this September. I look forward to working with GY Gardening and offering my helping hands and service.

Rachel Brewer

I love creating tranquil and interesting spaces that reflect each season in all their glory and that encourage garden birds too. From starting as an amateur gardener and I have progressed to work for Age UK supporting people in their love of gardening and recently attended an inspiring workshop with Thrive.  I am really enjoying progressing my horticultural career with professional gardening at Grayshaw & Yeo.

Jo Jenkinson

I have over 40 years experience in horticulture, starting with my pre college work experience at Secretts, then a three year course at Merrist Wood where I gained an OND in Horticulture.
I have been a nursery manager for Squires, and a Planteria Section Head for Notcutts.
My last 15 years has been spent doing garden maintenance for clients in the local area. Gardening is my passion and nothing gives me more satisfaction than taking on a neglected garden and pruning and weeding it to perfection.
I am very excited to be starting the next chapter of my horticultural journey by offering a consultancy service through GYGardening. I feel that I have a lot of knowledge and hands on experience that I can share to help clients who need a little direction.

Mandy Beavis

I have enjoyed gardening since my early twenties, my introduction came from my grandparents whose breakfast room was always full of seedlings of some kind and subsequently a vibrant display of summer colour would appear in the garden. I have been fortunate to renovate each garden that I have owned; transforming one from a combination of soil, rubble, weeds and a huge bonfire into a well maintained space with plants chosen for seasonal interest and a cottage garden feel. I love working outside and have learnt that it is best to work with nature, rather than against if you want the best from your garden. I have been inspired by the prairie planting seen at RHS Wisley and have enjoyed bringing this back to my own garden; on a much smaller scale! Planting, pruning and weeding are among my favourite tasks and I gain a great sense of satisfaction from seeing the transformation this makes.

Sam Mostyn

The garden that first left an impression on me was my Grandma’s abundant garden – colourful, peaceful, and occasionally edible. Since, I’ve maintained an admiration for horticulture and agriculture which has continued to deepen as I’ve grown older. During that time I’ve sought different experiences to expand my knowledge, skillset, and passion, such as part-time gardening roles and a six week voluntary gardening role on a small organic farm. Until the beginning of 2023 when I decided to be a full-time gardener. I worked with a garden maintenance company for several months until I found another role with a landscape gardening company of which I worked with for 1 year. Creating or beautifying a garden whilst immersed in the elements has become a place that feels most natural for me.

Ruta Ditale

The images and experience of walking through vast wildflower meadows, running around orchards, picking harvest from vegetable and fruit gardens, eating tomatoes and cucumbers from grandmother’s greenhouse are the childhood imprints in my soul.

I believe that everyone and especially children deserve to experience the magical and nurturing power of the nature and every garden, big or small, can provide that.

I had my first son 9 years ago and that was when I rediscovered my passion for plants and gardening. Since then I have been taking care of and redesigning the communal garden of our neighbourhood in order to enrich it with colour, wildlife and functionality.

Alison Vetch

My father started up Rotherhill Nurseries, so, as a young child through to adolescence, holidays were often spent disbudding, weeding and picking flowers. I have been in and out of gardening all my life, and when I decided to retire from my career as a fine art restorer due to failing eyesight, I just wanted to learn more about gardening and working outside really appealed to me, plus becoming more environmentally conscious. I have always loved flower arranging and being creative with flowers, and having lived in Africa for 12 years where growing plants is tremendously rewarding, because results are so fast! I became hooked.

Pippa Cornell

I have always loved being outside in nature, in any season. My passion for growing my own organic fruit and vegetables means my concrete back garden has now been transformed to not only produce an abundance of food but also a beautiful space in which to relax and admire.
I get great satisfaction from growing unusual and attractive varieties which I then cook or share with family & friends.
Gardening for me is one of life’s absolute pleasures, even the smallest of jobs can be as fulfilling & rewarding as a large transformation.

Kevin Sloane

I’ve always loved nature and being a gardener brings me nearer.

I’ve worked with my local conservation group on the North Downs, also many years at RHS Wisley plant centre, am a member of SWT & part of the local allotment team, plus RHS L2 qualified

Lauren Wilkin

My passion for gardening stems from my love of nature and growing up on a small holding. From a young age I learnt from my parents and have continued to self teach into my now 40’s.
At home my garden has a mixed cottage feel with a few exotics thrown in for good measure. I have a small vegetable patch and border for cut flowers. We have a large Koi pond which I love and over the years has been a challenge to maintain but one I’m glad I stuck with.
My favourite place to escape to is my garden. There is a saying; “Into the garden I go, to lose myself and find my soul.” This is so true, which is why it’s a privilege being able to help transform an outdoor space where we can do just that.

Joanne Hammond

I have a real passion for gardening, wildlife and the natural world, and I love that gardens can be a source of such delight, relaxation and tranquillity.

I recently left my corporate job to follow my true passion and I’m now studying a Postgraduate Diploma in Garden Design at the British Academy of Garden Design. I also regularly attend workshops at RHS Wisley.

Barbara McAleer

I have a great interest in the natural environment. This love comes from my parents, my mother loved wildflowers 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 well-being. 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 an understanding of how to fit in with our people’s gardening tastes.

Kerry Powell

I always love being outside in the countryside or in the garden – being surrounded by nature. Growing up in a gardening and outdoorsy family, my first steps as a toddler in the garden were to ‘help’ my dad in the vegetable patch by finding worms!

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.

Mandy Mclean

I have just completed RHS L2, both practical and theory, at Brinsbury College. All exams passed including 3 commendations. I am a volunteer gardener at Borde Hill garden near Haywards Heath and I also volunteer with Horsham in Bloom maintaining the beds at Horsham Park.

Mandy is also part of our specialist planting team – happily being drafted in to plant up gardens to the designer’s specification. She has also had lots of experience planting at RHS Shows with our sister company Inspired Earth Design in 2022 and 2023 – helping the team achieve 2 Gold Medals!

Sonia White

My love of gardening started in our first home on a long narrow plot all overgrown and unloved. As we cleared away the overgrowth and uncovered many surprises underneath, the garden became my favourite place to escape to.

Having spent a lot of my working life sat at a computer, a window of opportunity to do something I felt passionate about came along, so I enrolled at Brinsbury College and completed the RHS Level 2 qualifications in the Principles of Plant Growth and Development and Practical Horticulture. I love using my knowledge and the experience I have gained, to help others make their garden their favourite place to escape to!

Ciarran Minns

My mum and Granny instilled a love of the outdoors and gardening in me. From a young age I would help deadhead, weed and harvest Granny’s abundance of produce! I now have a garden and small veg plot of my own and have maintained and redesigned a number of the beds facing all different directions. I am about to take my last exams to complete my RHS Level 2 course and can’t wait to continue to learn through working in a professional horticultural environment.

Sandy Gee

This is now my third season (2024) gardening with Grayshaw and Yeo. I love gardening and also studying and learning about all things horticultural. I now have my RHS Level 2 Horticulture qualification even though I have been gardening in my own garden for years. I have been a teacher and worked in environmental education. I enjoy growing and managing gardens for wildlife, and for children and adults to relax and enjoy being inspired by colour, form, and growing vegetables so we can enjoy the health and sustainable benefits of eating what we grow.

Sandy is also part of our specialist planting team – happily being drafted in to plant up gardens to the designer’s specification.

Sarah Foster

I have always loved gardening, so after leaving a career as a graphic designer, I retrained in horticulture at Merrist Wood College and became a gardener full-time. Over the years I have revamped several of my own gardens and really enjoy the challenge of bringing a garden to life. My current garden is small, north-facing and dominated by trees, so I have become adept at finding plants that will thrive in difficult conditions. I also have an allotment where I have learnt a great deal on how to grow vegetables organically.

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.

Anu is also part of our specialist planting team – happily being drafted in to plant up gardens to the designer’s specification. She has also had lots of experience planting at RHS Shows with our sister company Inspired Earth Design in 2022 and 2023 – helping the team achieve 2 Gold Medals!

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.

Nicola Fish

I’ve always had a love for the outdoors, and my true passion for gardening began 15 years ago when I bought my first home, a passion that has only grown since. Over the years, I’ve designed, developed, and maintained my own garden(s), including growing my own produce, which I find incredibly rewarding. I’ve also helped friends with their gardens along the way. I get joy from maintaining gardens and making them thrive, and I have always had a particular interest in propagation and planting design. Having completed my RHS Level 2 theory and practical, I’m currently expanding my skills through a Professional Planting Design course.

Thamar Empringham

I’ve always been a keen gardener but during lockdown I was inspired by a “grow to give” insta account. I started growing cuttings flowers to give to friends, family and locals including my kids schools and have carried this on every summer since. This ignited a passion to fill my own garden with colour but gardening is an expensive hobby so I taught myself how to collect seeds, propagate and divide perennials. Once you start this education you realise how much you can learn and I have been learning ever since.