Natalie Garlick

Natalie has always had a passion for gardening. From a young age her grandparents had a lot of involvement within the community, from growing dahlias for the church to growing tomatoes for home cooking. Whilst working in the police, she used gardening as a stress release which became a keen hobby of hers. Within time, Natalie chose to leave the police and focus on her passion and decided to take the leap. She bought all the essential tools she needed to start her own gardening business. As her business expanded, she wanted to learn even more about the care and maintenance of plants and the practical and technical skills in ground preparation for seeding and planting. She continued her professional career in gardening whilst enrolling onto a course at Riseholme College.

"I attended college every Monday and researched extra material in my own time. It was a fantastic opportunity to study with likeminded people and share our knowledges and experiences. This course gave me a really good base to work from and helped me to increase the basic knowledge I already had. It has unlocked so many doors within the horticultural industry. I was incredibly fortunate to be given the chance to attend the Royal Horticulture Society Chelsea Flower Show as a member of the Young Gardeners group. I also attended a British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums Zoological Plant Working group at Yorkshire Wildlife Park, which was attended by plant curators and horticulturalists from different zoos in Europe. My journey through horticulture so far has been a wonderful whirlwind and I look forward to all the challenges and lessons ahead."