My name is Drew Swainston and I am a gardener and garden writer based in North Yorkshire, UK.

I spent time as a journalist before getting my horticultural qualifications and worked for seven years as a professional gardener. I was fortunate enough to work in fantastic gardens and also wrote freelance for websites. Now I am a dedicated garden writer – meaning I can combine my passions and skills to use my hands-on knowledge and experience to write practical and inspiring gardening articles.

As a journalist, I got my National Council for the Training of Journalists qualifications and then wrote primarily about the security industry and sport. I wrote for websites and spent time as an assistant editor on international trade publications. During this time, around 2013, I started discovering gardening and began by growing vegetables and herbs in a raised bed in my back garden in Birmingham.

That lit a spark in me and my interest in gardening was piqued, it developed to me studying for a Leve 3 Horticulture qualification, which was based at Birmingham Botanical Gardens, and spending one day a week at the National Trust’s Hanbury Hall. I was then so fortunate to get a job at the world-famous Hidcote Manor Garden and spent two years immersing myself in this fantastic horticultural space and developing my skills and knowledge. 

After a stint as a kitchen gardener at Soho Farmhouse in Oxfordshire, I returned to Hanbury Hall to work maintaining its formal gardens and also the walled garden. It was in the walled garden that I took on a lot of responsibility to plan and grow vegetables, fruit, herbs, and flowers that were used by the on-site restaurant and sold to the public. It led to me writing monthly Walled Garden Diaries for the blog and helped develop my knowledge of edibles.

This led me to take on the specialist role of production gardener, where I led the growing of produce in the walled kitchen garden at Netherby Hall in Cumbria. I grew vegetables, fruit, herbs, microgreens, and flowers for the Michelin-starred restaurant, The Pentonbridge Inn. This was a fantastic opportunity to immerse myself in growing edibles and producing the best crops year-round for the chefs. 

I still do grow vegetables, fruit, and herbs, both at home and on the new allotment we got in 2023. I thoroughly enjoy writing about gardening day-to-day and helping to inform and inspire others through my articles. This blog has been a home for me to talk about my experiences growing in walled gardens and speaking to other growers to help reveal tips and tricks in my Grow With the Pros series. It has also showcased gardens I have visited, projects I have worked on, and also my favourite plants and new vegetables I have grown.