More About Toby

Toby lives near the coast in Devon with his wife Lisa and three children, Henry, Eddie and Emma-Rose. He gardens on a steep south-facing slope about the size of two tennis-courts. He also has an allotment in a nearby village where he grows as much of the family's fruit and veg as possible.

Toby's Garden

"Since moving back to my home county of Devon five years ago it's taken a while to work out what to do with my sloping plot. Finally the demolition of an old stone wall nearby has given me and Lisa both the plan and most of the materials to build it with. As well as the (free!) reclaimed stone, natural materials abound - there's a fence made from driftwood collected from the local estuary, timber steps from the nearby salvage yard and recycled slate surface and water fountains."

"Nature benefits I hope too from some of my efforts towards sustainability in the shape of rainwater harvest system (have you seen how much water costs down here (?!) and a green insulating roof for our garden office."

"We're lucky here because the mild West Country climate means we can grow borderline tender plants like echium, Torbay palms and tender euphorbia, though even we suffered in the last hard winter and there are currently quite a few gaps in my garden waiting for exciting-new incumbents! Geranium palmatum has made it through though, with its pink flowers and furry stems, self-sowing all over the place. Selectively weeding and allowing them to seed about the garden, along with bronze fennel and Californian poppies saves money and trips to the garden centre."

"This year there's a new feature in my garden – apart from the kids' trampoline! – the reclaimed greenhouse built for my show garden at BBC Gardeners' World Live last year. I have finally got round to reconstructing it at the bottom of my plot last winter and I'm thrilled to say it's up and running at last, full of promising salad seedlings, dahlia tubers and herbs for this summer. I prefer to grow all my spicy leaves close to home where they're handy to pick for the pot and easy to look after."

"I love the way plants grow in the most unlikely places, greening the steps and pathways for a natural, laidback look."

"I'm on my third allotment now and I wouldn't be without one. Mine is in a nearby village complete with a fruit cage, waterbutts, a reclaimed beach hut-shed and compost heaps."

"Growing your own food is fun. Being able to harvest something from your own garden or allotment greatly enhances your life, health and tea-times. For me growing as much of my family's food as possible is the most important way to cut down on energy consumption and those all important food miles. Besides, everyone knows home-grown tastes better, looks more appealing on the plate and you know where it's come from. Even better, there's no better way to get my three fussy kids to eat their greens."