Breadcrumbs
Career Profiles
How have others built successful careers in horticulture? What attracted them to the world of plants? What training did they do? What are their jobs like now?
Me & My Job - Karl Cooper, nursery manager, Millbrook Garden Centre
18 May 2012How did you get started in the industry? I grew up on a self-sufficient smallholding. We also grew cut flowers, Christmas trees and soft fruits that were sold to local traders. I started working on a production nursery at age 13. With the money I ...
Me & My Job - Amanda Smith, marketing coordinator, Flora-tec
04 May 2012-How did you get started in the industry? After a last-minute change of plan, I was offered a place on the newly started horticultural degree course at Writtle. In our final year, a small group of us placed an advert in The Grower saying several n...
Me & My Job - Katie Cleary, manager, Old Railway Line Garden Centre
27 April 2012- How did you get started in the industry? My parents started the garden centre in 1990 from just a six-by-eight-foot greenhouse. I was involved from a very young age, filling pots and labelling plants. In 2011, I completed a BSc in horticulture a...
Me & My Job - Briony Markham, corporate fundraiser, Greenfingers
20 April 2012How did you get into the horticulture industry? Through the charity Greenfingers, because it combined my passion for helping children and my interest in gardening. What does your typical day involve? There is no typical day and that's what makes...
Me & My Job - Colin Hambidge, gardening writer
23 March 2012How did you get started in the industry? I was the very first employee of Mr Fothergill's Seeds in 1978. I'd always enjoyed gardening so I jumped at the chance to join this new company as a management trainee. It grew rapidly and I had seven happy y...
Me & My Job - Alex Pitt, sales and marketing director, Tracmaster
16 March 2012- How did you get started in the industry? I was working in finance when my father asked me to help with the business, initially in the role of business development manager. - What advice would you give to others starting out? Try to get up ...
Me & My Job - Jon Collins, projects officer, Hertfordshire Council
02 March 2012How did you get started in the job? I joined the Countryside Management Service last September, having worked for five years in the private sector. I was attracted to the variety of projects, from restoration to analysing design, and my colleagues...
Me & My Job - Brian Sayers, Tates of Sussex Garden Centres
01 March 2012Brian Sayers, purchasing, IT and technical director, Tates of Sussex Garden Centres.
Me & My Job - Neil Jackson, business development manager, Coolings
24 February 2012How did you get started in the industry? Readers with long memories will remember I was a wholesale grower and past chairman of the Midland Regional Growers. In recent years I left wholesaling for the excitement and bright lights of retailing. My ...
Me & My Job - Peter and Maggie Darban, owners, Darlac
17 February 2012How did you get started in the industry? My father started Darlac in 1963, importing innovative floral art products from around the world. In 1979, Maggie and I bought a small UK-based tool company. This gradually eclipsed the floristry side of th...
Me & My Job - Stephen McCallum, gardens head, MacRobert Trust
10 February 2012- How did you get started in the industry?
Me & My Job - Phil Gibbs, company secretary, LOFA
03 February 2012- How did you get started in the industry? The Leisure Outdoor Furniture Association (LOFA) advertised for a company secretary in the Daily Telegraph and I applied and got through the selection process. I started on 1 October 2011 and had a thr...
Me & My Job - Jonathan Ward, owner, Ginger Horticulture
27 January 2012How did you get started in the industry? When I left school. I spoke to the careers officer and said I wanted to work outside. He suggested agriculture, horticulture or the army. The army was a non-starter and because I lived in the country I k...
Me & My Job - Claire Harley, regional manager, Headland Amenity
20 January 2012What does your typical day involve? I'm up early at 5-6am and on the road to the first customer by 8am. Meetings are prearranged throughout the day, as are most site visits, such as to golf courses and football pitches. Once there, I'll discuss how...
Me & My Job - Paul Thompson-Gough, apprentice gardener, Kirklees Council
13 January 2012How did you get started in the industry? For almost 20 years, I worked in the engineering industry. Then in the spring of 2010, at the age of 34, I decided to pursue a career that would encompass my passions, which are flora and fauna. I was accep...
Me & my job - Martha Benedeck, acting planteria manager, Camden Garden Centre
01 January 2012How did you get started in the industry? I previously worked in film PR for around 10 years but made the move into horticulture four years ago because gardening has always been my passion. I worked at another garden centre before moving to Camden Ga...
Me & My Job - Jeremy Vincent, service manager, the Grass Group
09 December 2011- What does your typical day involve? I'm not sure I have a typical day because I am involved with all aspects of the company including sales, hire and parts, but my main responsibilities are service. - How did you get started in the industry? ...
Me & My Job - Geoff Oborne, the Cycling Gardener of Horsham
02 December 2011How did you get started in the industry? I started working in a small garden centre when I was studying horticulture at college. At 20, I began my own soft landscaping and garden maintenance business, and a few years later I began working in garden ...
Me & My Job - Matthew Perks, greenkeeper, Ham Manor Golf Club
25 November 2011- How did you get started in the industry? I started working at the local garden machinery dealer in the village where I was brought up after leaving school. I've always been fascinated by mechanics - I was forever repairing engines in my spare ti...
Me & My Job - Samantha Ford, founder, Original Touch Garden Seeds
18 November 2011- How did you get started in the industry? On returning to the UK after living in Europe, I started to source and grow vegetables and seasonal produce unavailable in UK shops. I began to share this passion with others which led to the establishme...
Me & My Job - Paul Peacock, self-sufficiency expert
28 October 2011- How did you get started in the industry? I always wanted to be David Bellamy when I was a kid, so I did a botany degree, but ended up as a minister. About 25 years ago, I started to write about self-sufficiency. Now we are opening a cookery scho...
Me & My Job - Joe Hayward, contracts manager, London Lawn Turf
21 October 2011How did you get started in the industry? I worked in the landscape yard of a local garden centre while I was at college studying business. I decided that the industry was for me and started a landscape construction and horticultural course at Merr...
Me & My Job - Nigel Press, senior gardening buyer, B&M Retail
14 October 2011How did you get started in the industry? Through Focus. I was an indoor horticulture buyer at the DIY chain before its demise and before that I was a buyer for other categories. I was at Focus for 13 years and am passionate about retail. What ...
Me & My Job - Matthew Hall, head gardener, Batsford Nursery
07 October 2011How did you get started in the industry? I did part-time work after school at the age of about 12 at a local nursery. Slowly, the job developed, and so did my interests in plants and machinery and the love of working outside. When I left school I ...
Me & My Job - James Cordingley, assistant head gardener, Penshurst
30 September 2011How did you get started in the industry? I became interested in plants at an early age and had a small collection of fuchsias. My fascination of plants grew and I studied a BSc (Hons) in horticulture at Writtle College in Essex. I worked on Her...
Me & My Job - Linda Carless-James, plant adviser and garden designer, Webbs Garden Centre
13 September 2011- How did you get started in horticulture? I used to be a bank manager in a big High Street bank and was made redundant. I like gardening and art and so decided to retrain to do a job I love as opposed to just one where you earn money. I started an...
Me & My Job - Mike McCall, account manager, Growth Technology
09 September 2011How did you get started in your career? My horticultural career began around seven years ago through an initial appointment at Growth Technology. Since then, I have had numerous roles in the company. I have a background in media and cultural stud...
Me & My Job - Tony Libra, manager, Solus Leisure Brand
02 September 2011How did you get started in the industry? It was quite by chance really.
Me & My Job - Sam Mitcham, event manager, Glee
26 August 2011How did you get started in the industry?
Me & My Job - Nigel Gibson, salesman, Wyevale East Nurseries
19 August 2011- How did you get into the industry? I started as an assistant gardener with Swale District Council in Faversham, Kent, after I realised I wanted to be able to identify different trees and plants. I have now been in horticulture for 31 years and d...
Me & My Job - Steve Porter, garden and domain head, Chatsworth
12 August 2011How did you get into the industry? I came to Chatsworth as assistant head gardener four years ago and was acting head for nearly a year. I've been made permanent in the past few weeks. What is your background? I started at the National Trust 15 ...
Me & My Job - Daniela Coray, owner, Daniela Coray Landscapes
05 August 2011How did you get started in the industry? I was a florist in the US and every Tuesday the plant guy came to deliver and I found myself getting more and more passionate about that side. I had studied art and thought I would get into garden design an...
Me & My Job: Richard James, manager, Syon Park Garden Centre
29 July 2011- How did you get started in the Industry? I have always had a strong interest in gardening, probably inherited from my family's love of horticulture. I completed a management retail course at Guildford Technical College and by just 19 was one of ...
Me & My Job - Joel Beckman, managing director, North One Garden Centre, Islington, London
22 July 2011- How did you first get started in horticulture? My previous job working in the City came to a close when the company was sold. I took some time off to spend with my partner and our new son, before starting a new career in the at North One Garden ...
Me & My Job - Mike Gilbert, partner, Gilbert Evans
22 July 2011How did you get started in the industry? Having previously worked for property consultancy Quinton Edwards, I have always dealt closely with clients who were looking into garden centres. This in time helped me develop my own interest in this area of...
Me & My Job - Owen Morgan, owner, Mosaic Garden Design
15 July 2011How did you get started in the industry? I'm self taught and started work with my father-in-law, Oliver Bird, a designer and landscaper in the East Midlands for 25 years. I have taken over the business and carried on ever since. How is business...
Me & My Job - Jon Munday, nursery manager, Blackmoor Nursery
08 July 2011- How did you get started in the industry? I got a summer job and found I enjoyed the work. I was then offered an apprenticeship. - What advice would you give to others starting out? It's not the best paid industry but there are plenty of reward...
Me & My Job - Aaron O'Reilly, manager, Redlough Landscapes
01 July 2011- How did you get started in the industry? My grandfather was a gardener and I have fond memories of him always being busy in the garden, so I suppose that set me off on finding my niche. That search brought me firstly to Otley College in Ipswich ...
Me & My Job - Owen Johnson, registrar, The Tree Register
24 June 2011How did you get involved in the industry? I started measuring trees when I was 14 - my parents gave me a hypsometer for my birthday. By the end of that year I'd found enough notable trees for Alan Mitchell - the famous tree recorder of the later 20t...
Me & My Job - Sue Moss, floral section gardener, RHS Wisley
17 June 2011- How did you get started in the industry? After deciding to move away from a career in archaeology, I decided that I would like to do something creative and which was still outdoors - garden design seemed the obvious choice, but I wanted to spend...
Additional Information
Latest jobs Jobs web feed
- Business Planner Henderson Brown Recruitment £22000 - £25000 per annum + Benefits, Peterborough
- Trading Assistant Henderson Brown Recruitment £20000 - £25000 per annum + Benefits, Cambridgeshire
- Team Leaders - Hard and Soft Landscape Anders Plus 21.5k - 23k doe, Essex
- Assistant Strawberry Grower Henderson Brown Recruitment £20000 - £25000 per annum, West Midlands
- Garden Manager Chiswick House and Gardens Trust £27,000 -£30,000 per annum negotiable on experience, West London
Latest Tenders
Contract for the Supply of Horticultural Machinery & Equipment
Sunderland City Council
CONTRACTS FOR THE SUPPLY OF PARKS
MAINTENANCE AND TREES MAINTENANCE
Wandsworth Borough Council
In This Issue
NEWS: Garden centre sales start to pick up after relentless poor weather
GROWER: Packaging update
INTERVIEW: Robin Wallis on the Hortus Loci launch
PEST & DISEASE FACTSHEET: Moles
KIT TESTS: Handheld tools
