After leaving school Joe went to Art College and played bass in a band.
He then travelled and worked abroad and upon his return started landscaping in North London and subsequently lived in Australia for a year landscaping in Sydney and Melbourne.
He studied garden design at The English Gardening School based at the Chelsea Physic Garden in 1990 whilst simultaneously setting up a landscaping company.
Joe started presenting Gardeners World in 1998 and now designs gardens, presents on TV and writes.