Further education student Sam Moore is through to next week’s eastern regional final of the Young Horticulturist of the Year competion after winning two tie-breaks in his local heat at Writtle College

Sam, 18, (pictured below, centre) from Great Totham, Essex, is studying for a Level 3 Extended Diploma in Horticulture.

The eventual national winner will receive the Percy Thrower Travel Bursary, worth £2,000, provided by the Shropshire Horticultural Society, which funds a horticultural tour anywhere in the world.

The competition is open to any horticulturist under 30, in employment or education.

The Writtle College heat, for which students had to answer 40 multiple choice questions set by the Chartered Institute of Horticulture, needed two tie-breaks before the winner was decided. Lecturers had to write a new round of questions to break the deadlock.

Runners-up were Rosie Kippen (left in picture, second), who is in her third year of a BSc (Hons) Horticulture and was a national finalist last year, and Karly Derrick (third), in her third year of a BSc (Hons) Horticulture.

Sam is part of the Writtle College team putting together the entry for the Young Gardeners of the Year competition at the Ideal Home Show 2015.

He paid tribuite to his Level 3 Horticulture lecturers. “I’ve been interested in horticulture since my early teens and Writtle has completely developed what was a hobby into a career choice,” he said. “After my course I'm hoping to carry on studying at Writtle on the BSc (Hons) in Landscape and Garden Design – it would be great for my CV if I get further in the competition!”

The Grand Final is on 9 May at the National Trust's Barrington Court, Somerset. 

Photo (left to right): Rosie Kippen, Sam Moore, Karly Derrick.