Andrew Stevenson BA(Hons), DipGD
A life long interest in horticulture and a passion for plants has ultimately led Andrew to garden design here at Chessington Garden Centre. In 1994, Andrew gained an honours degree in Landscape Architecture at Gloucestershire University. Andrew started his horticultural career at Notcutts Garden Centres on their Management trainee program, and was soon promoted to Outdoor Manager.
In 2000, Andrew joined Chessington Garden Centre as Landscape Manager. During his time in this role, Andrew became involved in a number of gardens at Hampton Court Flower Shows.
In 2005, whilst still working as Landscape Manager, Andrew successfully completed a diploma in garden design at The Garden Design School, Painshill Park in Surrey.
In 2007, and in partnership with The Dorset Water Lily Company and designer Claudia De Yong, Chessington Garden Centre was awarded the
RHS Gold Medal for the water garden ‘Hot Springs’. This garden was also awarded the coveted
Tudor Rose Award.
In January 2008, Andrew established the Garden Design Department at Chessington Garden Centre. To launch this new department, Andrew and his co-designer Steve Putnam were accepted to create a garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. In May 2008, their courtyard garden - ‘Mist-Placed’ was awarded the
RHS Silver Medal.
In 2009 the hard work paid off, and the Landscape Department became a Stonemarket Display Centre and ultimately one of the largest Landscape Departments in the south-east.
Kayleigh George BA(Hons), PGDipLA
Inspired by colour, nature and art, and with an interest in sustainable design, Kayleigh believes the key to creating innovative and enjoyable spaces, is to take advantage of our natural surroundings. Gardens are pockets of green havens for wildlife, and greatly benefit the environment, as well as our own well-being.
In 2009, Kayleigh graduated from the University of Gloucestershire with an honours degree, and post-graduate diploma in Landscape Architecture.
Later that year, Kayleigh joined McGregorSmith in Bath as a graduate Landscape Architect, and was involved in a number of large scale projects within the private, commercial, and educational sectors.
Kayleigh volunteered at Painshill Park in Cobham, an 18th century landscape park and gardens in Surrey, helping them in their successful bid for Heritage Lottery Funding. She assisted by surveying, and producing scaled drawings of the existing footprint for the Woollett Bridge and Grotto pinnacles. (Both can now be reinstated and restored, repectively, due to this successful bid).
In 2010, she joined Chessington Garden Centre as a Marketing and Graphics Assistant, eventually joining the Garden Design Department in 2011.
Howard Gregory DipHort,(Kew)
In 2012 Howard Gregory joined the Garden Design & Build department as Contracts & Garden Maintenance Manager. Howard had been in a similar role for the previous four years with Garden Care Contracting as well as running his own company for 15 years.
Seven years of extensive training at Hampton Court, Merrist Wood and Kew Gardens have all contributed to Howard’s wealth of practical experience in horticulture, gardening and landscaping. With Squires Landscapes, Howard was planting foreman, and with Clifton Landscapes in London, was Soft Landscape Foreman.
Howard’s enthusiasm for plants and their potential use has provided Howard with an extensive knowledge of garden plants and trees. Kew Gardens teaches a botanical knowledge of plants, so he has an overall appreciation of plant families and therefore their accurate identification.
He has worked at all levels in landscaping, from labourer to foreman to contracts manager. And is therefore ideally placed to provide sound gardening advice and to be able to offer competitive estimates for work to be carried out for clients.
Howard believes the design of hard surfaces is as important as the design of the lawns and beds. His ethos is that if all the garden components are sympathetic with each other, then the garden will work as one and be of maximum benefit and enjoyment to the user.