Ivydene Gardens Home: About Chris Garnons-Williams

Chris Garnons-Williams

Chris Garnons-Williams was born in the late 1940s in Egypt of British parents. After an education that spanned Gordonstoun and Brunel University, I worked for a number of years for a major defence contractor. I am married, and live in Kent (England) with my wife.

Eventually, realising that work in horticulture would improve my quality of life, I attended Hadlow College of Agriculture and Horticulture for a 1 year course in horticulture (it should be noted that this course contained no garden design content) before setting up my own garden design, landscaping and maintenance business in 1991 as a sole trader.

Chris is a qualified horticultural gardener. I am a member of the Royal Horticultural Society and the Medway Fair Trader Scheme.

I speak English, and when not engaged on other people's gardens or my own, I have enjoyed church candle making and DIY.

I design, construct and maintain private gardens using the organic methods and companion planting techniques detailed in this website.

I have been associated with the Society Of Garden Designers and I use the following Clause 3.3 and 3.4 of their Code of Conduct and Practice in this website:-

Society Of Garden Designers

Code of Professional Conduct and Good Practice

Scope of the Code

The code, reprinted below was adopted by the Council of the Society of Garden Designers on 15th January 2003 under Clause 7 of the Society's Constitution.

This Code is binding on all members of the Society with effect from 15th January 2003.

3. As a member of the Society, you must act with integrity and avoid conflicts of interest

 

3.1 Before commencing any work for a client or employer you must disclose in writing any business, financial or personal interest of yours, or that of any partner, co-director or associate, the existence of which, if not declared, would or might be likely to raise either a conflict of interest between you and the client or employer or doubts about your integrity.

 

3.2 You must not (in a garden design practice) be a partner, co-director or take up employment with an unsuitable person. Examples of unsuitable persons are:

- A person whose name has been removed from the Directory of Registered Garden Designers by virtue of disciplinary measures

- A person disqualified from membership of a recognised professional body

 

3.3 You must refuse any gift, favour or hospitality that might be interpreted, now or in the future, as an attempt to obtain preferential consideration.

 

3.4 When you specify or recommend a product, contractor or any other service, you must ensure that your advice is based on your professional opinion as to the relative advantages and disadvantages of alternative products, contractors or services and is not based on commercial gain.

Re: SGD: HM Revenue & Customs

From: gardensbyivydene@mac.com

Date: 9 March 2010 19:16:18 GMT

To: gillhinton@assocmanagement.co.uk

To Gill Hinton,

I am resigning my membership immediately.

If any details concerning my name, address, membership number or when my membership started is sent or received by HM Revenue & Customs, I shall sue you for £2000 for not complying with my request. All legal fees on both sides will be paid by the Society of Garden Designers irrespective of outcome. Also a legal case against the HM Revenue & Customs will be started for invasion of privacy, which the Society of Garden Designers will pay the legal fees for my side and the HM Revenue & Customs irrespective of outcome.

I trust that I have made my position clear.

Mr C. Garnons-Williams

On 9 Mar 2010, at 17:57, Gill Hinton wrote:

To All Members

We have had a letter from HM Revenue & Customs which says under Section 18a (2) Taxes Management Act 1970 we are required to supply to them by 8th May a list of all our members, their address, membership number and type of membership and when their membership started.

I am emailing you to let you know that we will be complying with their request and supply this information to them on 30th April.

Regards

Gill

Gill Hinton

Administration

Why I like jokes to put in this website

A man and his dog were walking along a road. The man was enjoying the scenery, when it suddenly occurred to him that he was dead.  He remembered dying, and that the dog walking beside him had been dead for years.  He wondered where the road was leading them.

After a while, they came to a high, white stone wall along one side of the road.. It looked like fine marble. At the top of a long hill, it was broken by a tall arch that glowed in the sunlight.

When he was standing before it he saw a magnificent gate in the arch that looked like mother-of-pearl, and the street that led to the gate looked like pure gold. He and the dog walked toward the gate, and as he got closer, he saw a man at a desk to one side

When he was close enough, he called out, 'Excuse me, where are we?'

'This is Heaven, sir,' the man answered.

'Wow! Would you happen to have some water?' the man asked.

'Of course, sir. Come right in, and I'll have some ice water brought right up.'

The man gestured, and the gate began to open.

'Can my friend,' gesturing toward his dog, 'come in, too?' the traveller asked.

'I'm sorry, sir, but we don't accept pets.'

The man thought a moment and then turned back toward the road and continued the way he had been going with his dog.

After another long walk, and at the top of another long hill, he came to a dirt road leading through a farm gate that looked as if it had never been closed. There was no fence.

As he approached the gate, he saw a man inside, leaning against a tree and reading a book.

'Excuse me!' he called to the man. 'Do you have any water?'

'Yeah, sure, there's a pump over there, come on in.'

'How about my friend here?' the traveller gestured to the dog.

'There should be a bowl by the pump.'

They went through the gate, and sure enough, there was an old-fashioned hand pump with a bowl beside it.

The traveller filled the water bowl and took a long drink himself, then he gave some to the dog.

When they were full, he and the dog walked back toward the man who was standing by the tree.

'What do you call this place?' the traveller asked.

'This is Heaven,' he answered.

'Well, that's confusing,' the traveller said. 'The man down the road said that was Heaven, too.'

'Oh, you mean the place with the gold street and pearly gates? Nope. That's hell.'

'Doesn't it make you mad for them to use your name like that?'

'No, we're just happy that they screen out the folks who would leave their best friends behind.'

Soooo.

Sometimes, we wonder why friends keep forwarding jokes to us without writing a word.

Maybe this will explain.

When you are very busy, but still want to keep in touch, guess what you do? You forward jokes.

When you have nothing to say, but still want to keep contact, you forward jokes.

When you have something to say, but don't know what, and don't know how, you forward jokes.

Also to let you know that you are still remembered, you are still important, you are still loved, you are still cared for, guess what you get?

A forwarded joke.

So, next time if you get a joke, don't think that you've been sent just another forwarded joke, but that you've been thought of today and your friend on the other end of your computer wanted to send you a smile.

One Hungry Little Mouse

The extraordinary scene was captured by photography student  Casey Gutteridge at the Santago Rare Leopard  Project in Hertfordshire.

The  19-year-old, from Potters Bar, Hertfordshire,  who was photographing the leopard for a  course project, was astounded by the mouse's  behaviour.

He said: 'I have no idea  where the mouse came from - he just appeared  in the enclosure after the keeper had dropped in  the meat for the leopard.

'He didn't  take any notice of the leopard, just went  straight over to the meat and started  feeding himself.

'But the leopard was  pretty surprised - she bent down and sniffed  the mouse and flinched a bit like she was  scared.

'In the meantime the mouse just  carried on eating like nothing had  happened..

..but even a gentle shove does not deter the little creature from getting his fill...

'It was  amazing, even the keeper who had thrown the meat  into the enclosure was shocked - he said he'd never seen anything like it before.' 

Project owner Jackie James added: 'It  was so funny to see - Sheena batted the  mouse a couple of times to try to get it away  from her food.

'But the determined  little thing took no notice and just carried  on.'

Sheena was brought in to the Santago  Rare Leopard Project from a UK zoo when she  was just four months old. She is one of  14 big cats in the private collection started by  Jackie 's late husband Peter in 1989.  The African Leopard can be found in the  continent's forests, grasslands, savannas,  and rainforests.