Garden designer Tom Hoblyn developed his passion for plants in the West Country were his family lived and farmed for generations. He went on to hone his horticultural skills at Hadlow College and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
During his time at Kew, he won a scholarship to study wildflower communities in the south-eastern United States where he spent 10 weeks knee deep in bogs being attacked by various forms of wildlife. Surviving this compelled him to study plant habitats in countries such as Spain, Australia and Indonesia where he was often made to eat various forms of wildlife. The payoff was a clear understanding of how plant communities co-exist harmoniously and this is often reflected in Tom's exciting planting schemes frequently resulting in gardens requiring minimal aftercare.
On his return to England in 2002, Tom set up his landscape and garden design company Thomas Hoblyn Garden Design Ltd and has been working on commissions that are as geographically diverse as they are varied. From 2006, Tom started designing award-winning gardens and this year, he is excited to be back at Chelsea with his fourth show garden.
When he is not designing gardens, Tom is often called upon to share his horticultural expertise with commercial, media and charitable organisations. He is an active teacher, commentator and blogger. He has maintained his link with Kew and in his spare time he sits on a panel there that identifies and helps preserve the UK's heritage apple varieties from extinction – a passion that is evident in his orchard at home where he grows 42 cultivars.
At home in Suffolk, where he lives with his wife and four children, he is devoted to developing and maintaining his own garden incorporating an 18th century walled garden, which he manages bio-dynamically, a natural swimming pool and a wild flower meadow; sometimes assisted by his small flock of Shetland sheep, two horses and an ever-changing collection of bantams.