After completing his traineeship at the Chelsea Physic Garden, Laurence went on to work with Rosemary Alexander at Sandhill Farmhouse. This grew into a long-standing collaboration both at Sandhill and on a number of her garden design projects. Since 2015, he has also been part of the EGS teaching team at Sandhill’s practical days, sharing the hands-on knowledge he has built up over many years in the garden.

Laurence pursued a broad range of horticultural qualifications, including the RHS General and Advanced Certificates, a City & Guilds qualification in Hard Landscaping, and a Diploma in Garden Design from Capel Manor. He also spent two years volunteering at West Dean Gardens, developing and refining his practical skills under the guidance of Sarah Wain and Jim Buckland.

Having worked in a wide variety of gardens, Laurence has developed extensive experience across all aspects of practical horticulture. His work has included growing fruit and vegetables in traditional walled gardens, maintaining herbaceous borders, carrying out regenerative work on shrubs and trees, caring for formal lawns and meadows, and undertaking extensive glasshouse and propagation work. Topiary is a particular passion, and he oversees the year-round care and maintenance of Sandhill’s extensive box hedging.