Ashley James is a garden designer and horticulturist based in the Yarra Valley, Victoria, on the lands of the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung people. He started working in the industry when he was  just 14 years old, alongside his dad. He started his own business aged 23 and went against the grain, focusing on soft-landscaping and design, when all the cool kids were doing landscape construction. He went on to study horticulture, and now works on everything from vineyards, to large wedding and function venues, urban spaces, country estates and cottage gardens. Ashley’s known for his beautiful, romantic gardens that weave traditional design principles with naturalistic plantings.  Ashley’s aim is to create a dream garden for each client. He is an absolute plant and flower die hard, and is a self-professed Plants Man. He and his work has been featured on The Block, Better Homes and Gardens and Country House Facelift, while a stunning Eltham garden project was written up on the Design Files. If he isn’t busy enough, Ashley continues to create his dream garden at his own home that he shares with his wife Bianca and three children, and he’s the newest columnist for Home Beautiful, providing amazing gardening advice and inspo. We're drinking Latta Rattlesnake We're talking about Winespeake in Daylesford on Instagram here. Dimity's amazing stall at Cygnet Garden Market - Check her out on @TinyFarmTas Edna Walling We're also talking lemons, seaweed and how hard gardening is. We're reading The Age of Seeds - How Plants Hacked Time and Why our Future Depends On It by Fiona McMillan-Webster Visit us at @avantgardeners.podcast and www.avant-gardeners.com