Jez Stamp, currently working with the BBC Gardeners’ World production team, has been crowned Young Horticulturist of the Year by the Institure of Horticulture. He wins the £2000 Percy Thrower Travel Bursary, provided by the Shropshire Horticultural Society.
At the Grand Final in the Liverpool University Ness Botanic Gardens, Jez said: "It was an excellent competition that highlights all the exciting opportunities that horticulture has to offer as a career. Plants are my passion. I have thrown myself in 100% and am proud to have won this competition. My travel bursary will give me a chance to continue my studies of woody plants and I will be looking at Western China and Taiwan as possible locations."
The contestants from the Institute’s eight branches battled it out in front of an audience of 100 supporters from across the industry, including the national competition sponsors; Bryony Cooper representing the Shropshire Horticultural Society, Peter Hunt from MorePeople and Ruth Ashfield from the Horticultural Development Council.
All contestants won cash prizes, a year’s free membership of the Institute of Horticulture and a copy of a new book entitled: The Genus Betula, a Taxonomic Revision of Birches by Kenneth Ashburner & Hugh A McAllister.
The competition, now in its 24th year, has seen nearly 2000 students from across Britain and Ireland taking part in local heats and regional finals over recent months. For the lucky eight contestants it was a hard slog to reach the Grand Final, having answered 45 questions in the heats, as well as upwards of 40 questions across every aspect of horticulture in their regional finals. They also had to cope with tough equipment, plant and pest and disease identification rounds to secure their places in Saturday’s Grand Final.
Leigh Morris FI Hort, President, Institute of Horticulture said: “The Young Horticulturist of the Year competition is, in my view, one of the most important things the Institute of Horticulture (IoH) does. I’ve been involved with YHoY since the late 1980s as a competitor, finalist, heat organizer, Quiz Master and now as President supporting the event and smiling in the presentation photos!
"It was wonderful for me to be at the Grand Final to support and encourage these young horticulturists and huge thanks from the Institute go to all our sponsors, both regional and national. As I said to Jez at the end of the Grand Final “with a £2000 travel bursary, the world is definitely his oyster” and I am certain he’ll be a fantastic ambassador for the YHoY competition and the IoH. Well done Jez!”
The finalists, from across the eight Institute of Horticulture branches were:
1st place - Jez Stamp - BBC Gardeners World, representing the South East Branch;
2nd place - Chris Parsons - Gardener, Manfield, County Durham, representing the Northern Branch;
3rd place - Lucy Baker - Wyken Hall, Suffolk, representing the Eastern Branch;
4th place - Mark Flahive - Self-employed landscaper, representing the Ireland Branch;
5th place - Sara Perzley - Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh, representing the Scotland Branch;
6th place - Matthew Hussey - Sparsholt College, representing the South West Branch;
7th place - Owen Groves - Pershore College representing the West Midlands and South Wales Branch;
8th place - Alex Tranmer - National Trust, representing the North West and North Wales Branch
Last year’s winner, Douglas Mackay, is due to take up his £2000 Travel Bursary later this year. On his return he will produce a report about his trip which will be published in a future volume of the Institute’s quarterly Journal, The Horticulturist.
At the Grand Final in the Liverpool University Ness Botanic Gardens, Jez said: "It was an excellent competition that highlights all the exciting opportunities that horticulture has to offer as a career. Plants are my passion. I have thrown myself in 100% and am proud to have won this competition. My travel bursary will give me a chance to continue my studies of woody plants and I will be looking at Western China and Taiwan as possible locations."
