Know Your Garden
Discover what's growing in your garden and how to look after it, with a photographic plant guide and personalised care calendar.
From £450
Explore the serviceGet to know your garden.
Root Down helps you understand, care for and develop the garden you already have.
Through a personal garden visit and a digital guide created specifically for your garden, you'll discover what's growing, how to look after it and what possibilities lie ahead.
A guide shaped around your gardenBased in Kent · Working across the South East
The confidence to care for your own garden
Every garden is different. Some have been carefully developed over decades; others have passed through several owners, leaving behind a collection of plants whose names and needs aren't always known.
I begin by spending time in your garden, identifying what's growing, understanding its conditions and exploring its possibilities.
From there, I create a guide that gives you the knowledge and practical advice to care for your garden yourself — with the confidence to know what to do, when to do it and when it's better to leave things alone.
How the process unfolds
How Root Down can help
Garden Assessment & Development Plan
Find out what's working, what could improve and how to develop your existing planting, with practical recommendations and planting ideas.
From £450
Explore the serviceComplete Garden Guide
Bring plant identification, seasonal care and a plan for improving your garden together in one comprehensive guide.
From £695
Explore the serviceBringing your plans to life
Improving your garden doesn't always mean buying new plants. Many established gardens already contain opportunities to create more planting from what's there.
As part of a Development Plan, I can identify plants that may be suitable for division or propagation, suggest where they could be used elsewhere in the garden, and provide practical guidance on when and how to do the work.
Where new plants would be beneficial, I can help you choose and source them through my nursery contacts, often at better prices than those available to the public.
You may prefer to do the planting yourself, with some advice and support, or have me carry out the work for you.
The choice is yours.
A guide to keep and use
Your Root Down guide is a personal reference to your own garden, designed to be useful long after my visit.
Explore photographs of your borders to identify individual plants. Find clear instructions for looking after them, including when and how to prune. Follow a seasonal calendar tailored to what's growing in your garden.
If you've commissioned a Development Plan, you can also explore recommendations for improving your planting and developing the garden over time.
The guide is available digitally, with a downloadable copy to keep.
EXPLORE AN EXAMPLE
See how your garden guide works
Select a view to explore the photographs, plant advice and seasonal guidance in a personal Root Down guide.
PLANT 10 · PLANT CARE
Choisya ternata
Mexican orange blossom · evergreen shrub
Looking after it
Choisya is generally low-maintenance once established. Keep the soil moist while a plant is establishing, then water during prolonged dry spells. It usually needs little pruning.
When and how
If pruning is needed, the usual time is mid-spring (around April), after the risk of frost has passed. If it is flowering or about to flower, wait until flowering has finished. For light shaping, shorten individual shoots just above a healthy side shoot or pair of leaves, choosing cuts that preserve the shrub's natural shape. Avoid simply shearing the entire plant.
Hard pruning Optional renovation · only if established and too large
A healthy, established Choisya can tolerate substantial reduction. Prune in spring, once frost risk has passed, usually in April. If the plant is flowering or about to flower, wait until flowering has finished. Flowering may be reduced while the shrub recovers. Mulch after pruning and keep the plant watered during prolonged dry spells.
This is a substantial reset, not routine care. Check the plant’s health, size and the intended result before making a major cut, and check first for active bird nests.
What if I leave it alone?
That is usually fine. Established Choisyas do not generally need pruning. Leaving it alone preserves its natural shape and avoids removing flowers or foliage unnecessarily.
LOOK AFTER YOUR GARDEN · AUTUMN
November
A few things to look out for. Some checks help keep plants healthy; other jobs are optional. You do not need to do everything here.
AUTUMN · SEPTEMBER – NOVEMBER
Seasonal interest
The evergreen structure of #1 Pinus, #2 Fatsia japonica, #5 Pieris japonica, #11 Aucuba japonica and #18 Pittosporum tenuifolium; and the distinctive corky branches of #3 Euonymus alatus.
Around the garden
CHECK · GARDEN-WIDE
Check container drainage during prolonged rain
Make sure water can drain freely, especially through extended wet weather.
RHS guidance ↗DO · GARDEN-WIDE
Clear fallen leaves selectively
Remove leaves only where they are smothering smaller plants or obstructing drainage; leave the rest to support garden wildlife.
Your plants
LEAVE ALONE · PLANT-SPECIFIC
Avoid unnecessary hard pruning of established spring-flowering shrubs
Most can wait until after flowering. Remove only dead, damaged or unsafe growth, and check the timing for the individual plant before pruning.
#4 Camellia · #5 Pieris japonica · #6 Azalea · #9 Magnolia liliiflora · #13 Magnolia · #14 Rhododendron
RHS guidance ↗Anonymised client example · name and address omitted.
How it works
The garden visit
I'll visit your garden to identify its plants, assess the growing conditions and understand what you'd like to achieve. I'll photograph and record the garden so that the advice can be specific to your plants and their surroundings.
Research and recommendations
Back at my desk, I'll investigate anything that needs closer attention and bring together the relevant horticultural guidance. Where appropriate, I'll consider opportunities to improve the existing planting.
Your personal guide
You'll receive a digital guide to your garden, bringing together the information and recommendations relevant to the service you've chosen. It's yours to refer to whenever you need it, as your garden grows and changes.
About Root Down
ROOT DOWN✳A personal
consultancy
consultancy
A gardener's perspective
I'm a professional gardener based in Tunbridge Wells, working with established gardens across Kent and the surrounding area.
Much of my work involves understanding gardens that have developed over many years — identifying plants, learning how they respond to their surroundings and finding ways to help them thrive.
I've come to believe that many garden owners would enjoy looking after their own gardens if they had better access to the knowledge and practical guidance they need.
That's why I created Root Down: to share what I've learned through working in gardens, and to give people the confidence to care for and develop their own.
Let's talk about your garden
Tell me a little about your garden and what you'd like help with. I'll get back to you by email to discuss the next step.
Read the privacy notice for information about how enquiries are used and stored. For a privacy request, email hello@rootdown.uk.