Garden Designer Chris Barnes has worked in horticulture for over 20 years and has been designing gardens for much of that time. She has designed show gardens and award-winning gardens at Afton Park, which were featured in Gardens Illustrated and Country Living. As a designer she has many successful garden design projects to her name. Chris has appeared on the 'Gardener's Question Time' panel at the Osborne Flower Show and gives talks and lectures on various aspects of gardening, planting and plants. Being based on the Isle of Wight she has a wealth of experience of Island gardens - both coastal and rural. This coupled with a flair for design, colour and form has resulted in many local gardens, large and small, benefiting from her expertise. Her expert knowledge of local plants and climatic conditions is an invaluable asset in an area where the sea is never far away. She has travelled to South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Tonga, Bali, Israel, France and Italy in search of plants, planting combinations and inspiration. However she also values many of the traditional English planting styles which are often reflected in her designs and planting plans.