Joseph Swift is a gardener who was born on 25 May 1965. Both of Joe Swift's parents and other family members are famous. Joe Swift's father was the late actor Clive Swift best known for playing Richard Bucket, the long suffering husband of Hyacinth Bucket (played by Dame Patricia Routledge) in Keeping up Appearances. His father sadly died on 1st February 2019. Joe Swifts mother is novelist Dame Margaret Drabble, Lady Holroyd who has published 19 Novels. She divorced his father in 1975. She is now married to Sir Michael Holroyd, who is a writer and Biographer. His older brother Adam Swift became a Political Philosopher and Sociologist and has written several books. His late Sister Rebecca Swift was to become a poet and essayist and ran the Literacy Consultancy and sadly died in 2017. His late uncle was David Swift, the actor best known for playing Henry Davenport in Drop the Dead Donkey. His childhood memories of his garden in London are that he mainly used for football but he would help out in his Grandparents garden. He grew a very small apple sampling from a seed but his mom had got some landscapers in the garden and it sadly disappeared, much to Joes annoyance. After suffering from Glandular Fever during his A levels Joe did not do well in them. After leaving school Joe went to Art College but dropped out and became a guitarist in a band 'The Tumbling Dice'. He left the band to go travelling and he first got into gardening whilst in Israel working in a Kibbutz. Joe Swift started work as a Landscape Gardener before going to Australia to work there. Joe had fallen in love with gardening and whilst in Australia the concept of a garden being an outdoor room had caught his interest. Joe returned to study a degree in Garden Design at The English Gardening School at the Chelsea Physic Gardens. One of his first jobs when he qualified was to design his Mother a garden. Joe Swift joined Gardeners' World as a presenter in 1998, alongside Monty Don where he shows off his garden design skills. He also presents and is a judge for RHS Flower Shows. Joe also writes gardening articles for magazines and newspapers and has written several books. In 2012, Joe Swift's garden design at Chelsea Flower Show won a gold medal. Joe is a past President of the National Garden Scheme. In 2018 Joe designed Horatio's Garden at Stoke Mandeville. He is quoted as saying 'its the most important garden I've designed in my life, and probably ever will do'. Joe has two children and lives in Hackney, East London but as his likes to keep his personal life out of the media, I will dig no dirt Pete Free 🌻 2012 RHS Chelsea Flower Show - Gold Medal Joe Swift Television Programmes 1998 Gardeners' World 2001 Small Town Gardens 2001 RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2003 Garden Invaders 2004 Garden Makers 2005 RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show 2006 Gardener of the Year 2007 Open Gardens 2013 Great British Garden Revival 2015 The Great Chelsea Garden Challenge 2020 Gardeners' World 2020 Episode 8 08 May 2020 Episode 9: 15 May 2020 2021 Gardeners' World 2021 Episode 1: 19 March 2021 Episode 4: 09 April 2021 Gardeners' World Winter Specials 2021/22 10 December 2021 2022 Gardeners' World 2022 Gardeners' World Winter Specials 2022/23 2023 Gardeners' World 2023 2024 Gardeners' World Winter Specials 2023/24 Gardeners' World 2024 Joe Swift Books 2001 The Plant Room: A Contemporary Guide to Urban Gardening 2008 Joe's Urban Garden Handbook 2009 Joe's Allotment: Planning and Planting a Productive Plot 2014 Joe's Small Garden Handbook Joe Swift Website and Instagram Share this post