Our Team
OBSESSED WITH INCREDIBLE PLANTS AND GARDENS
GUY WATTS
OWNER AND MANAGING DIRECTOR
Guy’s connection with Architectural Plants began as a boy. It spans Saturdays, school holidays and post university before the lure of the sea saw him rowing the Indian Ocean in 2009. He co-founded the charity Streetscape, before returning to AP in 2015. Find out more about Guy on our Garden Designers page.
JAY OSMAN
HEAD OF DEVELOPMENT
Jay joined us in 2021, having previously worked in the Horticulture and Landscape industries for over 17 years. He oversees our external operations for Garden Design, Planting and Creative Maintenance whilst also managing our recruitment and training. As our Head of Development, Jay leads our AP Homegrown Apprenticeship Scheme, designed to deliver an inspiring programme of professional and personal development for apprentices who want a career in the horticultural industry. Outside of work, Jay is a busy dad and loves taking his 3 children hiking or biking at the weekend.
DEBBIE BOXALL
PROJECT MANAGER & GARDEN DESIGNER
Debbie joined Architectural Plants in 2013 and is our lead garden designer. She wants to give her customers a garden they can’t get anywhere else. She loves using topiary and creating blobberies and she gives each garden the iconic AP look. Find out more about Debbie on our Garden Designers page.
AMY ROBERTSON
GARDEN DESIGNER
Amy is an award-winning garden designer with over 15 years experience in the industry. She has designed gardens for RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show and a number of 5 Star Trade Gardens at Chelsea. When she is not designing, she is a keen foodie and part of the AP running team. Find out more about Amy on our Garden Designers page.
ZAC SMITH-BUBBINS
GARDEN DESIGNER
Zac joined us in 2020 having previously worked in New Zealand designing and planting gardens. Drawing on his knowledge as a plantsman and with a degree in creative design, he loves to get to work on innovative designs that will transform your garden. If you are looking to be a bit daring, Zac’s ready to discuss exciting alternatives using a unique fusion of our plants and rarer specimens. In his spare time he’s something of a culinary connoisseur. Ask him for his Katsu curry recipe – it’s delicious.
SARAH DRUMMOND HUGHES
CREATIVE DESIGN CONSULTANT
Working with our Sales Team, Sarah specialises in remote design and advising our customers from the nursery. She has a keen interest in plants for coastal, hot arid and shady gardens. Sarah has considerable experience in maintaining gardens and worked for a number of years managing the gardens of a large estate.
SARAH CHANDLER
SALES SUPPORT
After a nine year break, Sarah’s return to AP has raised the numbers of Sarah’s to three. An extremely knowledgeable horticulturalist, she is now supporting the sales team with her sidekick Ben.
SPENCER WILLIAMS
FRONT OF HOUSE
Spencer is here to greet you when you arrive. He’ll make sure you find everything you need and answer any questions you have before you start exploring our nursery. Working closely with our horticultural consultants, he’ll make sure one of our team is ready to meet you and help you start hunting for plants. He’s on hand throughout your visit and you’ll find him by our till ready to tag and wrap your plants before you head home to your garden.
DARREN READ
TRANSPORT MANAGER
If you love our plants you will probably feel the same way about the man who manages the delivery of them to you. Darren is our trusted driver and an expert when it comes to handling and loading plants both large and small. Every delivery is assessed in detail and every plant is safely secured and wrapped for protection if necessary. He is yet to come across a plant or tree on the nursery that he can’t deliver one way or another. He’ll also deliver anywhere in the U.K. No problem is too great for Darren and he is always ready to help if arrangements take a last minute or unexpected turn.
FREDDIE PARKS
PLANTING TEAM MANAGER
Freddie joined us in the Summer of 2016 and quickly made a huge impact on our Planting Team. In 2021, he took on the responsibility of managing the team and leading them on ever more ambitious (but never impossible) planting projects. If we plant your garden, Freddie will be leading from the front, directing team operations and making sure the job gets done to your total satisfaction. He has endless energy and enthusiasm – and the team follow – with the speed and precision of a finely tuned cohort. Pull up a chair if you can because the spectacle is enthralling.
ANDY KIRKWOOD
CREATIVE MAINTENANCE TEAM LEADER
Andy is our our Creative Maintenance Team leader – also referred to as Captain Leg-Up, due to his love of raising and shaping plants. With an excellent eye for clean lines and perfect symmetry he is also highly creative and always keen to give you garden a unique accent should you be daring enough. When Andy is not clipping he supports our Planting Team and is also a mentor for our AP Homegrown apprentices.
SAM RANCE
CREATIVE MAINTENANCE TEAM
Sam joined our Creative Maintenance Team in early 2019 from Parham House Gardens where he had been for 7 years. An expert clipper, he is a total perfectionist and completely obsessed with his craft. A master of formal shaping and cloud pruning ‘Niwaki’ he also enjoys more innovative and creative challenges such as undulating blobberies and stripping palm trees. When Sam is not clipping he also supports the Planting Team where he relishes the physical challenges of being a plantsman.
JAMES HAGAN
CREATIVE MAINTENANCE TEAM
James started at AP in 2015, whilst completing his Level 3 Extended Diploma in Horticulture at Brinsbury College. He became a full-time member of our Nursery Team in 2018. During this time, he began to develop a good eye for displaying the plants on our nursery and also worked on two show gardens at the Ideal Home Show in London. Learning from Linda and Andy, he progressed to clipping and shaping our range of ‘Niwaki’, blobberies and other topiarised plants. Joining our Creative Maintenance Team in 2021 was the next logical step.
RICHARD SHLOVOGT
PLANT HEALTH SPECIALIST
Richard is our Plant Health expert. There isn’t a leaf, bud or granite chip he doesn’t inspect. You might well see him on the nursery attending to our plants (he’s the chap in the green suit) or you might well require his services in your garden. Either way we are all safe under his watch.
JASON GILFORD
MARKETING MANAGER
Jason joined the nursery in 2016 after an established career in the media and teaching. He learned all he knows about horticulture from Guy and Angus and managed the Nursery Team until 2020. He’s a homegrown hybrid and his favourite plant is Podocarpus salignus ‘Niwaki’.
DOUG HAY
DISPATCH CO-ORDINATOR
Doug manages the collection and organisation of plants for delivery and planting. He is also the man to call on should you need help loading your car. On Saturdays however, his vocal skills will be employed elsewhere – either in the studio or at a gig with his band Icarus Falls.
ABI
NURSERY MANAGER
Abi manages our Nursery Team and is AP’s resident action woman – she’s always on the go, keeping our nursery looking its best and driving production forward. In her spare time, Abi is a regular distance runner and keeps a burgeoning allotment.
DAN HILLEN
DEPUTY NURSERY MANAGER
AP Homegrown, Dan started his apprenticeship with us in the spring of 2019 qualifying as a full time member of the team in the autumn of 2020. In 2021, he was promoted to Deputy Nursery Manager to support Abi run our rapidly expanding nursery – a serious responsibility which he carries out with passion and tenacity. Obsessed by the plants he looks after at our nursery, his knowledge and skills are developing with each new season. Dan is fast becoming quite the horticultural all-rounder.
TOM HOLMES SMITH
LEAD PROPAGATOR
As our lead propagator, Tom is focused on developing our home grown plants for the nursery. However, you might find him supporting the Planting Team on your Garden Design or supporting the production team.
LINDA ADAMES
NURSERY TEAM
Linda is highly skilled in clipping and shaping and trains all of our Niwaki. She has a keen creative eye for developing new shapes and re-imagining traditional forms. If she is not in her production zone working on her latest innovation she is quite likely out with Andy on a Creative Maintenance visit.
MATT WELLS
HEAD OF ESTATE MANAGEMENT
Matt joined in 2013. Whilst helping out on the nursery and irrigation he discovered his enthusiasm for the planting side of the business. He quickly proved to be an exceptional plantsman and went on to manage our Planting Team before handing over the reins to Freddie in 2021. Expertly knowledgeable, unflappable, organised and with a keen eye for detail, Matt now manages the running of our nursery estate and all our ongoing development projects.
OLLIE ROBERTSON
ESTATE TEAM
When Ollie is not at college studying to be an engineer, he is Matt’s highly valued right hand man. A technical wizard of considerable talent and an ingenious ‘problem-buster’. Ollie has come on in leaps and bounds since first starting in 2017. Back then, he helped our Nursery Team potting up liners on a Saturday. Today, we would entrust him to oversee the rewiring of our entire irrigation system or manage the site logistics for a weekend wedding.
COLIN JUPP
HEAD GARDENER
Quiet and efficient, Colin is highly skilled in clipping and shaping. He has for many years divided his time between the garden at Nuthurst and our nursery here. He looks after the lake garden and surrounding grounds and you are more than likely to spot him up a ladder tending to the Cupressus sempervirens or Pinus pinea.
TINA WATTS
CREATIVE DESIGNER
On the nursery, Tina’s speciality is floral design. Her arrangements and other decorative work can be seen displayed around our sales and till areas. You will also see her trimming and tidying the plants in Span 1 & 2. Yuccas and Dasylirions can be tricky devils to manicure but Tina has a particular skill for making these look tip-top.
ANGUS WHITE
FOUNDER
Angus founded Architectural Plants in 1989 and launched the company onto an unsuspecting and bemused British public the following spring. Previously a furniture maker, his fascination for plants that have their own spectacular ‘architecture’ has borne a flourishing culture of enthusiasts who share his obsession. Everything he does is led by design, a meticulous pursuit for perfection and an interminable search for the world’s most exciting and rare specimens.
PHIL HARRIS
MASTER CRAFTSMAN
Phil has built everything from the office, to the cafe. A master craftsman, he’s a highly valued member of AP, you may even spot his plaque on the wall outside the office.
SARAH HARBOUR
ACCOUNTS
Harbs is our in-house accountant. Away from the figures, she is a keen country and western fan but the majority of her spare time is occupied playing golf professionally. She is also her club’s first female champion.