Aged 55, from Sutton Coldfield, he is designing a garden for Viking Cruises on the main avenue at the RHS show. He says his condition makes him obsess about the details of research.
Alan was diagnosed with Aspergerβs Syndrome, a form of autism, when in his fifties in 2013. He attended a dyslexia appointment with his middle son Reiss, now 19 who was studying fashion at college.
At the appointment the doctor revealed to both Alan and his son that they both have Aspergerβs syndrome.
Gardner said: βI went along because it was before a parentsβ evening and they said I could sit in. The doctor said βI think you have it as wellβ. I looked it up on the computer when I got home and it ticked all the boxes.β
He added: βAt school I didnβt do well academically and I was bullied a lot which is typical for someone with Aspergerβs. Children sense youβre different from them and children pick up on that.”
βAt 15 I bought a cactus and put it on my windowsill and that was the end of that and I had found a direction.”
βI worked for six years for Birmingham parks department and then set up on my own.”
RHS Chelsea
βChelsea is something Iβve wanted to do for a long time but the problem has always been that the main sponsors take on designers with track records knowing what they do and as a consequence the same faces appear year after year and move from sponsor to sponsor.
βThere are 15 gardens this year and ones like the Laurent Perrier and the Telegraph are just taken and thereβs not many up for grabs.β
βI met Viking Cruises through a friend of a friend β one of those things – and found myself sitting in front of them at the right time.”
βLast year they did an artisan garden at Chelsea and this year they are going to launch their first ocean-going liner called Viking Star the day before Chelsea press day on 17 May.”
βItβs quite a conceptual thing to build into a garden, the concept of a ship. It will be decks floating over decks above each other and have a very Scandinavian feel.β
Television Show
Gardner has now filmed a TV series for Channel 4 called The Autistic Gardener, making over four gardens, including three in London. It begins in early June. The 4 x 60 minute series will follow Gardner as he leads five autistic, green fingered amateurs who will use their unique skills to transform neglected gardens across the country.
He said: βWe took five trainees and did a garden makeover series and showed them how they can do this. The way it works in their minds, they are really good at things, how they can see things visually in 3D and how they can produce something very special.β
Gardner says his Aspergerβs manifests itself in βsocial aspects normally. I see things in completely different ways.β
Special Interest
But Gardner says his disability has been the making of him: βIt has been my career because one of the things about Aspergerβs is they have a special interest or obsession and in this case you know what mine is, and thatβs why Iβve done 40 RHS gardens since 1996, and why I go round the country designing beautiful gardens for people 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Iβm totally obsessed. I donβt stop, I just move from one to the next to the next.β
He added: βA lot of people use the term βsufferingβ about autism. Some suffer, some donβt. I like to think of Aspergerβs not as a broken computer but with a different operating system.
βIt is a disability but there are so many people on that scale and thereβs people at one end who can do things and people at the other who canβt do anything.
βI really hope this inspires people with autism because that was my main aim for doing it and thereβs a lot of people who are autistic like Einstein and Bill Gates and Steven Spielberg.”
βA lot of people who do Chelsea play safe because thereβs so much money involved and no-one wants to throw away a quarter of a million pounds on a bronze medal so the pressureβs on you.β
The Viking Ocean Cruises Show Garden will feature on Main Avenue, RHS Chelsea.
More information visit Viking Cruises.