About Cotswold Garden Tours
Our mission statement
Cotswold Garden Tours has several objectives that we outline below. Centred around Ben’s love for plants and gardens, he and his team want you to benefit from all they have to offer. We aim to
- Introduce our guests to a diverse range of beautiful and well-designed gardens throughout the Cotswolds,
- Bring together like-minded people with a common passion for gardening, plants, gardens, and nature generally,
- Create a warm, welcoming and friendly environment that provides both enjoyment and escapism,
- Encourage conversation, the chance to meet new people, explore wider grounds, and the opportunity to talk with the gardeners,
- Discover, learn, and become inspired.
Meet the team
Our specialist staff are at the heart of Cotswold Garden Tours. The team has been carefully created to showcase a wide array of skills including horticultural knowledge and experience, teaching and education, the creative arts, and IT and technical support. But we all share a passion for people, plants, and interesting places. Read our individual profiles below to find out more about us:
Ben Knight
Founder
After a three-year apprenticeship as a gardener at Batsford Park for Lord Dulverton, Ben studied at RHS Wisley on the two-year Diploma course. From there he finished his training at Highgrove, before gaining promotion to Senior Gardener, heading up a team responsible for a series of gardens that included the Sundial, Old and New Cottage, the Buttress, the Islamic, and walled kitchen gardens among others.
Following a four-year stint in HM Armed Forces, as a Paratrooper, Ben became Head Gardener to a variety of high-profile people including the Al Fayed family.
For the last seven years, Ben has grown a garden design, consultancy and maintenance business into a highly respected organization.
Now, over the last few months, Ben has established Cotswold Garden Tours, blending some of his favourite things, notably beautiful gardens, plants, and hospitality He also hopes to pass on his knowledge to his enthusiastic guests.
In his spare time, he enjoys reading and has a passion for history and sports.
Sharon Cole
Tours Assistant
Sharon studied for a BA Honours in French, German and Economics and after a brief period in industry, trained as a teacher, working both in the classroom and in an advisory capacity. She left her post as headteacher a few years ago and since then has been supporting a commercial Training company specialising in Continuous Improvement Practices.
Alongside her love of teaching and meeting new people, she has always been passionate about gardening and loves nothing more than donning a pair of wellies and getting outside. Having been used to tending a very small garden for many years, she recently moved and set about reconfiguring the house and turning a two-acre paddock, full of divots and brambles into something resembling a garden! Along the way planting a native hedge, developing a pond, building a raised vegetable garden and planting trees and perennial beds. She shares the space with four Burford Brown chickens who often join her to help with the weeding, usually creating more mess in the process, but are forgiven for their marvellous eggs!
Sharon has also organised some private garden tours for friends over recent years and she is now delighted to be working with Cotswold Garden Tours, sharing her love of beautiful gardens.
Colin Flint
Design & Technical
After a successful twenty-five-year career in teaching Graphic Design and digital skills in the Further Education sector, Colin decided to change career to Horticulture two years ago. Being a keen gardener for many years, he has since worked in a plant nursery environment, where his duties involved cutting, nurturing, and growing a broad range of mainly climbing plants such as Clematis, and supplying them to the horticulture trade.
Colin now works as a gardener for a gardening company based in the Cotswolds and has the privilege of gardening in beautiful and prestigious gardens. As well as maintaining and restoring gardens, he is becoming more involved in their planning, design, and creation as the company grows.
Here at Cotswold Garden Tours, Colin uses his skills and knowledge from his teaching years in a more design and technical capacity. He has a passion for anything plant and gardening-related and enjoys working in such a varied role.