Personal information
I have been working as a gardener in London since 1997 when I joined The Garden Rescue Service run by St John Steven. Since then I have worked for a number of small garden companies. Over the last summer I have been working freelance in preparation for starting my own company.
I have always had a strong interest in the environment and consider gardening, if performed well, to be a real tangible way of improving the environment and creating temporary sanctuary for wildlife that is being progressively pushed out of the little remaining habitat. I studied zoology and other related earth sciences at Auckland University and while there took the post of Environmental Affairs Officer. From there I went on to New South Wales, Australia to study Permaculture. Permaculture is a system of integrated design that seeks to mirror nature and build ecologies of plants and some animals that are of use to man. In the city the scope for experimentation is restrained, yet many of the problems and solutions are the same.
I have also been studing Ecology and Sustainable habitations at Oxford Brookes University. I will be able to offer phase 1 flora and fauna surveys and integrate this information into any design.
My intention is to build up a company which will be able to push the frontiers of urban regeneration by taking a new look at the way the private garden is managed and designed. One of the main new ideas I would like to explore is collective gardens. If we can look at groups of neighboring gardens as larger ecological units we can plan and maintain them to sustain more wildlife and even to share resources such as compost and plants.

Future. I would eventually like to move the business into consultation work, and use the experience I have and will have gained to help others work in harmony with nature to create sustainable habitations.
I have a strong interest in the workings of local government and would like to be able to work as a subcontractor to the local councils on parks and reserves.

email: mjdmorton@ecocentrus.co.uk