Newport-based Richard Davis - founder of Evergreen Wales - is gearing up to celebrate the company’s milestone 35th anniversary with a debut show garden at this year’s RHS Flower Show Cardiff, which will take place in the capital’s Bute Park from April 13 to 15.

Needing to support a young family, Richard started his career in the steel industry.

Soon realising this wasn’t a path he wanted to follow, he founded his own landscape design and construction company, which he now runs along with son Adam.

Richard said: "My love for gardening and landscape design dates back to as early as 1968 when I had my first job as a school boy working on a colonel’s estate in North Wales. I suppose you could say since that time gardening and the love of the outdoors has always been in my blood.

“In 1983, I decided to bite the bullet and set up my own landscape design and construction company and I still can’t quite believe that’s 35 years ago!”

Evergreen’s first job was a small fencing requirement; leading to courtyards, 45-acre garden designs and now a debut garden at the RHS Flower Show Cardiff.

For Richard though, the principles have remained the same: “Every job is individual – what’s important to the client is important to us.

“We built our business from our home originally, with my wife Gill taking calls late into the evening – and at a time when people weren’t really aware of what good landscape gardeners can do.

“As a family business, we still take on all size of jobs and are committed to each one in the same way; the technology introduced by my son and fellow director, Adam is helping us move things on and along with a new recruit - his brother Josh - we are expanding into new territories.

“We always try and source as many materials as possible from Wales and for the show will be using up to 100 tons of soil, approximately eight tons of Welsh pennant stone and more than 500 plants.

“We’ve been involved with the RHS Flower Show Cardiff since 2012 when we first exhibited a trade stand and are very proud to have received some awards for that but have always thought about a garden and 2018 is the year.

“There’s a pretty big task ahead of us but we really wanted to make a great first impression – it’s an exciting challenge!”

The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) – the UK’s leading gardening charity – has revealed an exciting line-up for 2018, bringing spectacular show gardens, floral displays, interactive activities and new Regeneration Gardens to the grounds of the Welsh capital’s Bute Park from April 13 – 15.

For more information or to buy advance tickets for the RHS Flower Show Cardiff visit www.rhs.org.uk/cardiff.