Joe Swift

Welcome to my corner of the Garden Collective, a spot behind the shed no doubt.

Here I can freely express my thoughts and write about my love of gardens, plants and the environment. I follow my instincts and occasionally rant (me, never!) about issues I feel strongly about.

I started off as an urban landscaper and gardener, studied design in the 1990s and am the design director of Modular, who design and build gardens all over the UK. I present for BBC TV and am the Times gardening columnist.

Garden wise I'm hands on and fully aware how good it is for me, both physically and mentally. Not that I have a choice, it's something I have to do and at least the local wildlife seems to appreciate my efforts.

Having lived in London all my life, we (my wife Cathy and I) moved to Dorset a few years ago where we've been developing a two-acre garden (see it at 'Joe's Country Garden' on YouTube).

When outside, immersed in nature, I lose myself and feel like I'm living in the past, present and future at the same time. It's a wonderful feeling and as spiritual as this non-believer gets. I can get evangelical about it and just wish everyone had the opportunity to engage as I do.

Over the years my career has given me access to a huge range of characters, opinions, processes and knowledge. It's a fabulous world to be in. We don't all agree here at the Garden Collective, but gardeners never stop learning and it certainly keeps things interesting.

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