Anne Swithinbank

Anne grew up in North Kent on the outskirts of London and from a young age was fascinated by plants and nature in general. Having trained at Kew, worked in parks department nurseries and as Glasshouse Supervisor at RHS Wisley, she has been a freelance horticulturist since 1986. The early days were a mixture of small landscaping projects, garden maintenance, writing and presenting alongside Geoff Hamilton on Gardeners’ World. Other TV highlights were two series of ‘Bloom’ for Channel 4 and ‘Gardens of The Caribbean’. Anne has been a regular panelist on BBC Radio 4’s Gardeners’ Question Time for 27 years and began writing for Amateur Gardening at the same time as moving from a dry, sandy soil in Surrey to clay with flints in East Devon 23 years ago. A large plot full of wildlife habitats, edible and ornamental plants is Anne’s workshop and inspiration.