About Us


Lapsed doctors now  ploughing a different furrow  in the world of horticulture.Gail, the driving force,has been developing the garden and nursery at Summerdale since we moved here in 1997 laying paths, gardening, hosting visits, propagating plants, baking cakes and making jam- all the elements that make a visit to Summerdale special.

Abi,one of our daughters, cut her teeth on the nursery after leaving University and helped take the nursery to a different level on a sound footing. She has now moved on to establish her own enterprise with husband, Tom Attwood, restoring and developing the nursery at Halecat. Abi and Tom’s Garden Plants are now  a true delight- but don’t spend all you money there!

Faced with the option of scaling down the nursery, David took the decision to leave medicine behind and work full time on the nursery and garden. This gave us the opportunity to take the nursery forward in a different direction, supplying plants that can be seen in the garden and also developing specialist interests in primulas, meconopsis and all shade loving perennials. Avid collectors we are always keen to add to the range..


There is precious little sitting. Maybe one day, but at the moment David and Gail are quite happy with things the way they are. After all there are cakes to bake, jam to make and always more plants to propagate.’

James Alexander-Sinclair, Gardens Illustrated.