GARDEN designer Tom Nielsen will be explaining to West Somerset enthusiasts next week which plants they should be choosing to cope with the UK’s changing climate.

Mr Nielsen is the guest speaker for the St Petrock’s Gardening Club, which meets in Timberscombe’s St Petrock’s Church on Monday (September 1).

The self-confessed ‘plant obsessive’ constantly grows and trials new species and selections in his Biocentric Plants garden and trial beds near Wiveliscombe.

He specialises in naturalistic design and planting using ‘nature positive’ plants that are ‘reliable, tough, and beautiful’.

Mr Nielsen trained in botanical horticulture through a Historic and Botanic Garden Trainee Programmes (HBGTP) scholarship in the University of Bristol Botanic Garden and worked there before setting up his own nursery.

He has also worked in an agroforestry research farm in Nicaragua, and his garden has been featured on BBC Gardeners’ World.

Mr Nielsen will outline for Monday’s audience his philosophy for plant selection and planting design, using selections of native or near native plants.

Gardening club members pay £1 for the talk, which starts at 7.30 pm, and guests are charged £3.