Meet the eight finalists in this year’s Young Horticulturist of the Year competition.
They will be contesting the honours in the final on Saturday (6 May) at University Shrewsbury.
The range of backgrounds is wide, from those already working in the industry to others still completing their horticultural studies.
“We have individuals who have known from a young age that their passion lies with horticulture, but we also have those who have discovered it later in life, going to show how powerful a pull horticulture can have,” said a spokesman for the organisers the Institute of Horticulture (IoH).
In order of appearance (left to right, top row first) in the picture above:
East - Fern Champney, second-year BSc Horticulture student who competed last year.
West Midlands & South Wales - Josh Egan Wyer, a BSc (Hons) graduate in horticulture at Pershore College in conjunction with the University of Worcester
South East - Julia Andersson, who gained an HND at Pershore College, took the Horticulture with Plantsmanship course delivered by SRUC and The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and is now head gardener at Auchendolly Estate.
Scotland - Lachlan Rae, a father of two who has become a Young Hort Ambassador and is contesting his third final.
North - Matthew Brewer, a BSC (Hons) horticulture graduate from Writtle College, who has worked at Kew and is now a Woodland Horticulturalist at RHS Garden Harlow Carr.
North West & North Wales - Nathan Foulds, currently continuing with his RHS Level 3 Diploma at Reaseheath College after experience in amenity and landscape gardening, and now running his own small landscape gardening and maintenance business.
South West - Peter Adams, who, after graduating with a BSc (Hons) degree in Horticulture, worked at Tresco Abbey Gardens as part of the Elizabeth Hess Scholarship program, later joining RHS Rosemoor.
Ireland - Egle Zinkute, a graduate of Trinity College Dublin with a BA in Religions, Theology and Biblical Studies, whose passion for ethics turned to the dynamic physicality of the plant world.
