Mrs Roots

Hello, I’m Mrs Roots (Vanessa to my friends). I’m a garden designer, based in SE London, and am passionately dedicated to balancing beautiful and practical design with wildlife and nature.

I studied in the glorious Royal Regent’s Park where I obtained my diploma in Garden Design.  It was during my three years of training I realised this was something I wish I’d done long ago. The opportunity to talk on a daily basis with people who were equally potty about plants led to the realisation of a life-long quest - I’d finally found my tribe!  At long last I knew what I wanted to do with the rest of my life.

My earliest garden memory is the picking of runner beans with my grandad in his small back yard.  This was no fancy garden – just a small patch at the back of a terraced house in a highly suburban street in Newcastle under Lyme.  Not an idyllic bucolic setting, but still my vivid memory of the short time I got to spend with my grandad is of the intoxicating smell of stringing those delicious fresh runner beans. I’ll take that!

I have always loved surrounding myself with plants of any kind and remember my first home (a poky little studio flat) being packed to the rafters with indoor plants – a passion that I still have today – long before it became trendy.  Just ask my husband who keeps asking if we actually have the space for more houseplants to which I always reply  “There is ALWAYS room for more plants!”

My dedication to sustainable gardening practices is equalled by my belief that ‘horticulture can heal’.  Simply put a short time spent in our gardens is like having a dose of Vitamin G. A prescription we should all have from our GP’s!